Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has surpassed a new staking milestone.
According to on-chain analytics firm IntoTheBlock, the Ethereum staking participation rate has risen above 25%.
The Ethereum staking participation rate is a reliable indicator of how many users are participating in securing the Ethereum network in exchange for a reward. An increase in this rate indicates increased interest in the Ethereum blockchain and faith in its proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.
Currently, the total ETH staked, which refers to the cumulative amount of ETH staked by participants, was 38.69 million ETH as of Feb. 11.
This indicates the total amount of ETH allocated to the Ethereum staking contract over time.
A growing number of ETH staked might suggest how resistant the consensus mechanism is to external economic attacks. The potential attackers would need to own and stake a considerable percentage of the total staked amount. For this reason, the higher the staking amount, the more secure the Ethereum blockchain.
Ethereum on brink of major updates
Ethereum is about to undergo multiple technological upgrades, the most notable of which is the impending Dencun upgrade.
The upgrade, scheduled for March 13, intends to increase network efficiency and layer-2 support by delivering significant scaling upgrades such as proto-danksharding.
Ethereum's native token, ETH, experienced a notable surge in the past week, climbing over 10%. In the past week, the Holesky testnet successfully upgraded to Deneb, a big milestone for the ETH blockchain.
At the time of writing, ETH was up 0.58% in the last 24 hours to $2527. According to crypto analyst Michael Van de Poppe, this period represents a "waiting game until Ethereum starts to pick up pace." He added that Ethereum has "flipped the $2,150 level for support, currently waiting for a breakout for continuation to $3,500."