ETH Price Regains $1,900 As Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade Looks Stable

The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency Ethereum (ETH) continues to hold above the $1,900 level as developers successfully carry out the Ethereum Shanghai upgrade, also dubbed Shapella.

Ethereum’s lead development Tim Beiko confirmed the Shanghai upgrade calling it “official”. This is a major upgrade for the Ethereum community as it allows users to withdraw their staked ETH ever since the launch of the Beacon chain.

As per the details, the Shanghai upgrade was triggered at 22:27 UTC and finalized at about 22:42 UTC. Nearly 30 minutes after the activation of the Shanghai upgrade, the system processed nearly 285 withdrawals in epoch 194,408, for about 5,413 ETH ($10 million worth).

According to Coin Metrics, nearly 1.2 million ETH tokens worth over $2.3 billion as of the current price are withdrawals over the next five days. Moreover, a total of $36.7 billion of Ether (ETH) has been locked for staking. During the live stream of the Shanghai upgrade, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said:

“We’re in a stage where the hardest and fastest parts of the Ethereum protocol’s transition are basically over. Very significant things still need to be done, but those very significant things can be safely done at a slower pace.”

He said that post the Shanghai upgrade, making transactions cheaper and faster will be the next major challenge for Ethereum developers.

Expecting Price Volatility in Ethereum (ETH)

With the Ethereum withdrawal mechanism going live, there could be short-term ETH price fluctuations in the near future. However, note that not all 18 million ETH staked on the network will be available for withdrawal at once since they have kept limits on this.

Some market players have previously shared concerns that ETH withdrawals could create a major supply surge putting downward pressure on the ETH price. However, those who participated in ETH staking long back are still underwater as of the current price. Thus, it is less likely that they would be selling their ETH at the current price.