The second most popular cryptocurrency in the world, Ethereum is all set to touch new highs. After the Shanghai upgrade, the prices rose sharply to $2.1k. The cryptocurrency gained almost 10% in the last 24 hours. This upgrade has made Ethereum a strong competitor to Bitcoin.
What is The Shanghai Upgrade?
The Shanghai Upgrade also called the Shapella Upgrade (Shanghai+Capella) is one of the most revolutionary milestones for Ethereum after the merge last year. This upgrade allows ETH users to withdraw the staked coins. People were wary that this would lead to a mass selloff thereby reducing the price of Ethereum but the situation has been the opposite.
The upgrade will also increase the demand for institutional investments in Ethereum as now there is the option to stake, unstake which increases the liquidity.
Curbing Environmental Impact
Shapella upgrade is a major step taken by Ethereum to shift from POW (Proof of Work) to POS (Proof of Stake). Before the merge last year, Ethereum was fully dependent on miners to carry out transactions but now they work with validators who immobilize or stake their coins to authenticate transactions. This is an important step taken by Ethereum to curb the environmental impact and reduce carbon emissions.
Will the Price continue to Rally?
It is quite early to predict Ethereum’s price as various macroeconomic factors like the easing inflation data of the US have played some role in fueling crypto prices. If staked ETH get massively sold in the coming days, we can expect some volatility in Ethereum’s price.
