• Ethereum’s Shanghai hard fork went live, unlocking the ability for stakers to withdraw tokens they pledged to the Ethereum deposit contract.
• The just-completed upgrade boded well for Ethereum as there was not a mass unlock of staked ETH as some predicted.
• ETH prices climbed to eight-month highs, trading above $2,000 for the first time since last summer.

Ethereum’s Shanghai Hard Fork

The just-completed Ethereum Shanghai hard fork (along with the separate Capella upgrade, together known as “Shapella”) unlocked the ability for Ethereum stakers to withdraw tokens they pledged to the Ethereum deposit contract used to validate the proof-of-stake network as well as the token payments they received for doing so. Many stakers initially pledged 32 ETH to become validators in 2020, and haven’t really had access to their coins since.

Predicted “Sell-the News” Moment

Going by the numbers, it seems like many ether (ETH) stakers have decided to hold onto their coins. Although several analysts predicted that this would be a “sell-the-news” moment, ETH has actually climbed to eight-month highs. The second-largest crypto by market capitalization was trading above $2,000 for the first time since last summer, after gaining ~3% during trading hours in Asia.

Reaction From Experts

Besu Protocol Engineer Justin Florentine shares his reaction as Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade went live: “It was probably the most sophisticated thing that any blockchain has attempted to do in public,” Florentine said.

Outlook For Price Of ETH?

What this says about the viability of Ethereum and outlook for price of ETH is an open question.

Conclusion

The successful completion of Shapella indicates growing maturity in Ethereum development and bodes well for liquid staking derivatives and other DeFi applications built on top of its protocol stack.