ETH NON-STOP!

Data from Glassnode suggests that the number of active ETH addresses has been steadily rising for all of 2021. However, between April the 15th and 21st there was a particularly massive increase of 183,704 active ETH wallets as the ETH price reached new all time highs. In fact, the number of active ETH wallets also reached an all time high of over 770,000! Further, the Ethereum network settled $1.5 trillion in transactions during the first quarter of 2021. This amount exceeds the last 7 quarters combined, another all time high. If this rate were to continue we could see Ethereum settle $6 trillion per quarter by the end of 2021! That’s not all there is to be excited about either...

Over $53 billion is now locked in DeFi. Ethereum smart contracts in particular are far exceeding the now obvious limitations of centralized finance. DEXs, DOAs, decentralized services operating 24/7/365, providing unprecedented accessibility to an assortment of cutting edge, individual empowering financial instruments. Perhaps what’s most exciting of all is that the space is still so young! Don’t go thinking DeFi will be the only show on Ethereum...

NFT sales on Ethereum far outweigh anything seen on any other blockchain and will very likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future, and beyond! Digital artists all over the world are being empowered to create, showcase, and distribute their work and gain the attention of wider audiences than ever previously imaginable thanks to this amazing decentralized network. Not to mention the continued mainstream, everyday attention coming from real-world crossover events like the ongoing community driven SaveArtSpace CryptoPunk ‘Pixelated’ event, or the groundbreaking Christie’s Beeple ‘Everydays’ auction and their upcoming CryptoPunks auction!

Everything seems to be going so incredibly well for Ethereum! The only matter left to debate seems to be the ongoing struggles with high and inconsistent gas fees. A matter being addressed specifically through the migration from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake blockchain network. This past November Ethereum enabled staking for Ethereum 2.0, and there are now over 3.9 million ETH staked in the ETH 2.0 contract, nearly $8 billion at todays ETH price. Ethereum is by far the most developed smart contract blockchain network, and the staking for Ethereum 2.0 is only expected to accelerate. This seems likely, especially with recent news of Coinbase enabling Ethereum 2.0 staking for users who joined their waitlist, allowing qualified holders of Ethereum on Coinbase to earn 6% APR in rewards for their staked ETH. Conveniently, there is no minimum ETH balance requirement for staking Ethereum on Coinbase, and users can elect to stake either a portion or all of their Coinbase ETH holdings.

The EIP-1559, the improvement proposal intended to reduce the supply of Ethereum and help improve fee stability, is now tentatively scheduled for July 14th. EIP-1559 will burn transaction fees instead of paying them directly to miners. Totalling over $8 billion now, transaction fees account for about 3 - 4% of Ethereum’s total supply!

Bitcoin’s recent dip dropped its dominance rate down to just under 50%, its lowest level since August 2018, while altcoins, ETH in particular has fared exceptionally well. In fact, over the past several months altcoin prices have been steadily diverging above Bitcoin. ETH actually hit its new all-time high 10 days after Bitcoin, with the BTC price down 20% from its recent all-time high. With all of the excitement surrounding Ethereum Is it unreasonable to expect this is a trend we might see continue well into the future?