Over 708,224 ETH ($425 million) is now locked up in the smart contract that marks Ethereum’s first step towards a proof-of-stake protocol, as per data from on-chain tracker Dune Analytics. The amount is 33% higher than the minimum 524,000 ETH that was required to launch Ethereum 2.0.
Data shows 2,025 unique depositors have now entrusted their funds—worth over $422 million at current prices—to the initial deposit contract. And as a reward for doing so, they shall receive an unspecified annual percentage of Ethereum fees as long as the ETH is locked up and supporting the Ethereum network.
Over 700,000 ETH has already been deposited to launch more than 20,000 #eth2 validators (almost 8% of them with stakefish 😎)! 🚀
But ETH 2.0 reaching its minimum subscription was not a smooth ride. The first week saw just 50,000 ETH deposited from a few users, with 3,200 ETH of that coming from its creator, Vitalik Buterin, himself. In fact, the deposits started to pump only after November 19, as the below chart shows—two days after liquidity incentives ended on decentralized exchange protocol Uniswap.
ETH deposits surged only in the last few days. Image: Dune Analytics
Regardless of that, Ethereum fanatics urged the network on at the time, hoping big players would step in to pump the deposit numbers (and perhaps prices) sooner or later.
As the crypto world awaits the TBD launch of Ethereum 2.0, ETH bulls are loading up on tokens in anticipation of the update—in an apparent attempt to claim the so-called staking nodes that will be critical to Ethereum’s revamped design.
According to a report teased by analytics firm Arcane Research, the number of Ethereum network balances that include or exceed 32 ETH is nearing 120,000. Under the proposed ETH 2.0 update, 32 ETH is the number of tokens you need to run an ETH 2.0 staking node—the...
And pump they did, with even some storied ICOs jumping in on the action. One such player was lending protocol Celsius Network, which raised $50 million in an ICO in 2018. The firm said it contributed 25,000 ETH to the Ethereum 2.0 protocol on the last day of deposits, joining other large token holders, crypto funds, and perhaps even other ICOs to help push it across the finish line.
The Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract—the last “missing link” that would allow sending ETH between both iterations of the blockchain—is essentially “good to go,” according to Ben Edgington, the product owner for ETH 2.0 client Teku at ConsenSys (which funds an editorially independent Decrypt).
Your newest news in #Ethereum 2.0 is here! https://t.co/97X85jdCzM
Sorry it's a bit late, and a bit rushed. I took some time off; it was nice 😎
Back now, refreshed and raring to go 🚀
— Ben Edgington ⟠ benja...
“We are proud to inaugurate the ETH 2.0 Genesis with 25,000 ETH,” Alex Mashinsky, CEO of Celsius, said in a statement.
He added, “Celsius was launched on Ethereum and scaled on Ethereum, so we thought it would be appropriate to contribute to the launch of ETH 2.0 and place some of the last ETH needed into the pool to make sure it launches on time and on schedule just like we did.”
Even crypto news outlet Coindesk has jumped in on the action, with Bison Trails running a validator on its behalf.
With the threshold now met, the Ethereum network can now jumpstart the first phase of Ethereum 2.0, a new consensus design that promises high scalability, better data throughput, and lower transaction fees—away from the current proof-of-work mechanism that proved too slow and unwieldy for the network’s aspirations.
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The Bank of Russia said Wednesday that financial institutions may offer crypto-linked derivatives to qualified investors, marking a cautious yet significant step towards regulated crypto exposure in the country.
“Financial institutions may offer qualified investors financial derivatives, securities, and digital financial assets whose yields are linked to cryptocurrency prices,” the central bank said in a statement.
The instruments must be “non-deliverable,” meaning they cannot result in the actu...
New York Mayor Eric Adams continued his push to shepherd the crypto community to the Big Apple on Wednesday, calling for the creation of a Bitcoin Bond in the city and the removal of its controversial BitLicense requirements.
"New York is the Empire State. We don't break empires—we build empires. We're saying to you: come back home,” he said during a stop at the Bitcoin 2025 conference.
“You have a mayor who is the crypto mayor, is the Bitcoin mayor, and I want you back in the city of New York,...
The Bank of Korea is considering linking its deposit tokens to a public blockchain, a move that would position its state-backed digital currency alongside private-sector stablecoins operating on open networks.
The tokens will be “a type of stablecoin issued within the digital currency system built and operated by the Bank of Korea,” the bank’s Deputy Governor Lee Jong-ryeol said in a statement Decrypt has confirmed with local sources.
"We are considering a direction in which it will coexist with...