In anticipation of Ethereum’s upgrade to proof of stake, over 10% of ETH’s supply has been sent into the Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract. That’s over $35 billion in staked value at current prices.
- According to Etherscan, exactly 12,334,098 ETH is generating income through the contract at the time of writing. By comparison, ETH’s total supply is estimated at about 120,642,170 ETH.
- The smart contract involves staking ETH on the Beacon chain – the future “spine” of the Ethereum network. It chain will eventually merge with Ethereum to act as its coordination mechanism, and allow it to operate using proof of stake.
- Proof of stake is a consensus model that lets users construct blocks by staking their cryptocurrency holdings, rather than spending energy. If chosen to create a block, a staker will earn a block subsidy, allowing users to earn an effective “yield”.
- The contract’s current holdings make the network the second largest in terms of staked value right now, next to Solana. It appears to be growing fast, having just surpassed 10 million ETH in March.
- That said, its yield compared to other networks is low, sitting at 4.3% against Solana’s 5.41%, and Terra’s 5.96%
- Ethereum 2.0 was scheduled to launch by July of this year, but a developer has since confirmed that users will likely have to wait longer than that. The upgrade has been delayed multiple times over the years, but developers are keen to make it happen to reduce Ethereum’s energy footprint.
- By contrast, Bitcoiners staunchly stand by the proof of work model, and insist proof of stake is insecure and centralizing.