Ethereum's value (ETH) soared to a remarkable eight-month peak of around $1,925 on Bitstamp exchange on Wednesday, continuing its recent winning streak.
The price increase was primarily driven by the anticipation surrounding the forthcoming Shapella network upgrade, a pivotal development in Ethereum's ongoing evolution.
Also referred to as the Shanghai upgrade, Shapella marks the completion of the second largest blockchain's transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.
Following the Merge upgrade last September, this major upgrade will allow users to withdraw their staked Ether for the first time since the previous update. Shapella is set to go live on the Ethereum network on April 12.
In addition to the PoS transition, the upgrade will introduce shard chains, which are designed to distribute the network's data processing workload, further improving its capacity and performance.
In the run-up to the upgrade, Ethereum Bug Bounty rewards for Shapella-related vulnerabilities have been doubled through April 5. This initiative is aimed at motivating security professionals and researchers to identify and fix any potential issues before the Shapella upgrade is implemented.