It appears that Shanghai hard fork has shifted the balance, with ETH staking now exceeding withdrawals for the first time ever.
After the successful Shanghai (Shapella) upgrade on April 12th, crypto validators were finally able to withdraw their staked Ether (ETH) from the Beacon Chain.
While over a million ETH were withdrawn within the first week, on-chain analytics firm Nansen reports that the amount of staked ETH now surpasses the withdrawal volume.
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According to the April 17th data, the staking volume of 124,000 ETH exceeded withdrawals, which stood at 64,800 ETH. It is worth noting that in the past 24 hours alone, there was 94,968 ETH staked, while withdrawals totaled 27,076 ETH.
Before the upgrade, many speculated that the Shanghai upgrade would determine the future of the Ethereum blockchain as there was a serious risk of the mass token selloff.
However, to the surprise of many, the majority of validators are opting to re-stake their unlocked Ether. This move allowed Ether (ETH) to surpass the $2,000 mark.
According to Lookonchain data, three whale addresses re-staked around 20,000 ETH, while another three transferred crypto to centralized exchanges, such as Huobi. It is estimated that stakers sent over 70,000 ETH to various crypto exchanges.
On top of that, data shows that most early withdrawals consisted of staking rewards. Some validators, like Kraken, had to exit due to compliance with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruling.
Out of 574,624 total validators, 22,231 have registered for a complete exit, with 910,930 ETH (out of 18.6 million ETH) slated for withdrawal.
A key factor contributing to the decline in withdrawals could be the current ETH price. At the time of writing, Ether (ETH) retails for $2,120.68, recording a 0.52% increase.
The Shanghai upgrade has brought about a positive change for Ethereum, with ETH staking now surpassing withdrawals for the first time, indicating a bright future for the cryptocurrency.
