• Demand for ETH staking has surged since the Shanghai upgrade to the Ethereum mainnet, with a waiting period of 27 days and 50,398 prospective validators in the queue.
• Ether owners can set up as network validators and earn a yield of around 4-5% annually via token staking.
• The addition of withdrawal flexibility to ETH staking reduces its risk, with 18% of total ETH tokens now staked – up from 15% prior to the upgrade.
Demand for Ethereum Staking Surges
Since the implementation of the Shanghai upgrade on Ethereum’s mainnet over one month ago, which allowed validators to withdraw some or all of their staked Ether (ETH) tokens from the staking smart contract for the first time, demand for ETH staking has grown significantly. According to wenmerge.com, there is currently an average waiting period of 27 days and 7 hours for new validators to join the network with 50,398 prospective validators currently in line.
Benefits of Token Staking
Ether owners can become network validators and earn a yield of around 4-5% annually through token staking. This adds an extra layer of security by reducing risk associated with locking funds in a contract for an extended period of time due to withdrawal flexibility offered by ETH staking contracts.
Rise in Staked Tokens
As of Monday, 21.652 million ETH tokens were entered into the staking smart contract – an increase of 3.5 million since before the upgrade when 18.1 million ETH tokens were being held in stake contracts out of 120.4 million total supply at that time – bringing current participation rate up to 18%.
Dual Deflationary Trends Set To Drive Price
Competitor proof-of-stake blockchains like Cardano have reported much higher levels (60-70%) participation rates due to flexible withdrawal options offered by their respective smart contracts; however it is expected that Ether’s rate will approach similar figures given its rising rate at about 3% per month – reaching 50% in less than a year if it continues at this rate – resulting in 38.4 million additional tokens moving into less liquid pools such as those used for staking purposes and driving price upwards following dual deflationary trends caused by increased scarcity and reduced liquidity on exchanges available for trading purposes .
Conclusion
In conclusion, demand for Ethereum’s token staking has surged since last month’s Shanghai upgrade enabling flexible withdrawals from its smart contracts; allowing users access to yields as high as 4-5%, while reducing risks associated with locking funds away long term due to improved withdrawal flexibility offered by these contracts; resulting in higher participation rates nearing 20%, driven further upwards if current trends continue towards 50%. Dual deflationary trends caused by increased scarcity and decreased liquidity on exchanges should drive prices even more upwards following this trend