Ethereum
developers are discussing raising the staking limit from 32 ETH to 2048 ETH.
Large players have to split their stakings at the moment, and this is very
inconvenient for crypto exchanges like Coinbase that got thousands of users
into staking to become validators of the Ethereum network. This artificial
limit forced crypto enthusiasts to queue in order to stake their tokens. More
than 600,000 users have become validators of the network, while another 90,000
are in the waiting list.
This
demonstrates a high demand from investors to become a member of the Ethereum
ecosystem. Moreover, investors agree to long-term membership by staking their
tokens without any immediate profit. This is very uncommon for the crypto
industry, where most investors come to get some easy money in the short term.
Ethereum
staking is prompted to create a diversified infrastructure around its
ecosystem. Many other crypto projects offer derivatives on the staked tokens
that could be used somewhere else. So, you don’t have to freeze your ETH on the
deposit, while still having a passive income from staking. This might sound
risky, but investors seem to accept this risk. EigenLayer has launched a
re-staking protocol and has reached the limit of allocated funds within five
hours from the project’s launch.
However,
even the booming Ethereum project doesn’t mean its token prices would surge
amid global negative sentiment in the financial markets. A short rally in the
stock market is primarily associated with the pause in the interest rate hike
cycle by the Federal Reserve (Fed). The Fed is acting with uncertainty, as it
is not clear whether current interest rates will be enough to help inflation
continue down, or if more rate hikes will be needed to anchor it. So, monetary
policymakers have to take a pause to reassess the situation.
Many
central bankers in developed nations believe that inflation will continues to
run high and are calling for more actions to bring it down. The Fed seems to
have the same hawkish mood, as some of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)
members seem eager to raise fund rates in September. In such a nervous
environment, risky assets are unlikely to rally in the coming months. So, the
long-term bet on the second largest crypto project could be a wise option with
the lowest risks possible for the crypto market. On the other hand, ETH prices
are seen to be close to the bottom, adding to Ethereum’s popularity.