About 36,000 ETH have been added every week, and 153,000 new ETH have been staked since August
Ethereum continues to achieve new milestones ahead of the widely anticipated “merge” release. To be precise, there are now 13,343,768 addresses for ETH 2.0 deposit contracts. Deposit contracts on Beacon Chain allow ETH holders to lock in their assets prior to transition.
As reported by Colin Wu, “According to OKLink, the number of ETH 2.0 deposit contract addresses has reached 13,343,768, and the stake rate has exceeded 11.17%. About 36,000 ETHs have been added every week, and 153,000 new ETHs have been staked since August.”
The envisaged increase in staking APR post-merge may be responsible for the increase in stake rate.
The Goerli testnet merge was completed on Aug. 10, the last test before switching from proof of work (PoW) to proof of stake (PoS) on the mainnet (also known as the Merge). It is now projected that Ethereum will complete the Merge on or about Sept. 15 (TTD 58750000000000000000000). With this achievement, the energy use of the Ethereum network will reportedly be reduced by 99.95% when compared to PoW.
Ethereum clears up misconceptions before ‘merge’
In the face of great expectations regarding the merge, Ethereum is ready to dispel some myths. There’s no doubt that the APR for stakers is expected to increase after the merger, but it’s still unclear how much.
It states that the rise in APR does not come from an increase in protocol ETH issuance but results from a reallocation of transaction fees, which will now go to validators rather than miners.
This refutes speculation that post-merger APR is expected to triple, adding that recent estimates suggest post-merger APR has increased by 50% instead of 200%.
Additionally, it disproves the notion that staked ETH might be withdrawn following the Merge by stating that staked ETH, staking rewards received thus far and newly issued ETH immediately following the Merge will all remain locked on the Beacon Chain without the option to withdraw.
Instead, withdrawals are scheduled for the Shanghai update, which will come after The Merge as the next significant upgrade. This indicates that newly issued ETH after the merger will be locked and unliquidated for at least 6 to 12 months, even if deposited on the beacon chain.
