Ethereum staking deposits dip due to regulatory pressure and Shapella upgrade


Ethereum staking deposits have declined slightly in recent weeks due to increased regulatory pressure and the Shapella update scheduled for April 12.

On April 9, on-chain analytics provider Glassnode reported on the current state of the Ethereum staking ecosystem.

The data revealed that deposit activities are currently low "due to regulatory pressure and the improvement from Shanghai."

Financial regulators in the United States have been tough on cryptocurrencies this year. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) insists that Ether (ETH) it is a security and has cracked down on gambling despite the fact that there is no official legislation from Congress classifying ETH as such.

The Ethereum network will undergo a long-awaited upgrade on April 12. The Shapella hard fork, also known as the Shanghai hard fork, will allow for the gradual release of ETH staked on the Beacon Chain.

These two factors have caused the drop in Ethereum staking deposits, according to Glassnode.

The firm also noted that major centralized exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken have lost a lot of market share to the liquid staking platform Lido.

โ€œWhen the dust settled between the three giants, it was Lido that emerged victorious, and it continues to dominate deposit inflows to this day,โ€ he noted.

Lido currently accounts for almost a third of the total amount of ETH staked. This equates to around $11 billion of the 5.9 million ETH on the platform.

centralized exchanges as Coinbase take a hefty 25% commission from staking rewards, and Coinbase commissions are even higher for other assets like Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SUN).

Lido charges a 10% commission and offers the ability to earn additional returns on DeFi platforms through its Lido Staked ETH (stETH) staking token. This explains the change over time as smart stakeholders shifted to more profitable platforms.

Analysts have predicted that liquid staking platforms like Lido will get a boost when ETH is released from the Beacon Chain after the Shapella upgrade.

Related: Analysts Discuss ETH Price Results From Ethereum's Upcoming Shapella Update

According to Ethereum metrics follow-up Ultrasound.Money, there are currently 18.1 million ETH staked in total currently valued at around $33.7 billion and make up 15% of the total supply.

After the Shapella update, it will slowly be released for retirement over the next few weeks and months.

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