Eth2 Ranks the Third-Largest Staking Network as Ether Continues to Rally

Ether has been enjoying major price spikes and hitting record highs over the past weeks. The prices have forced Eth2 to move from the fourth to the third-largest network by capitalization. On top of that, approximately 2.09% of ethereum’s supply is accumulated on the new ETH 2.0 upgrade. 

Ether is Steadily Catching Up

The price of Ether rose more than 10% and hit a new record near $1,550. There has recently been a break above the short term shrinking triangle with resistance approaching $ 1,535 on the same chart on February 2.

After building a support base above USD 1,400, Ethereum finally broke through a significant resistance zone to USD 1,450. It opened the door to ETH price increases above the resistance levels of USD 1475 and USD 1500.

ETH2 is Growing Steady

With nearly 2.5 million ETH locked up, Eth2’s staked amount is about $3.6 billion.

The price increase pushed Eth2 above Avalanche’s $3.4 billion staked asset, with Avalanche’s capitalization accounting for 69.5% of Avalanche’s offering.

Polkadot is currently the largest crypto asset in action. 60% of supply locked is at $ 10.8 billion, followed by Cardano with 71% of the total supply staked at nearly $ 9.5 billion.

Deposits in Eth2 have continued to increase steadily after the beacon chain went live in early December. In January, nearly one million additional ETH was locked for staking, while the total number of Eth2 validators rose by 55% from 49,200 to 76,200.

Since the start of the year, Ether has gained 70% versus bitcoin in the ETH/BTC market, with ETH currently at 5% after testing a local peak of 0.045 BTC on January 25 – the highest ether level compared to BTC since August 2018.

Analyst: ETH Options Activity Surged Right Before Latest Pump

One analyst noted that trading activity in Ethereum options increased this morning ahead of the ETH rally.

It underlines the growing influence of options on the market. Sometime before Ethereum hit a new all-time high; the options market showed dominant call activity. The options market now accounts for about 1/4 of the open interest in the bitcoin futures market. One has to be careful with the options; this has a significant impact on the market.

Additionally, the number of Ethereum on exchanges has steadily decreased since the start of 2021. As of January 1, around 22.7% of the circulating ETH supply was held by exchanges. The figure has since fallen to 20.4% currently.

The next few days should provide information on whether the nocturnal bulls are sustainable or will lead to another rapid descending movement.