Ethereum developers and users are gearing up for the first major upgrade following the Merge, which marked the blockchain’s transition to near-carbon neutrality. Expected to occur next month, the revision, dubbed Shanghai, has major implications for ether (ETH), the blockchain’s native token and the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value. The Merge changed Ethereum’s transaction processing mechanics, enabling a move away from computers that took a lot of energy to run to a proof-of-stake model, under which validators—users responsible for verifying transactions on a blockchain—pledge, or stake, cryptocurrency as collateral for a chance to win the right to add the next block of transactions to the ledger and accrue interest on the staked assets as a reward. Staking is “the act of depositing 32 ETH to activate validator software,” according to the Ethereum Foundation’s ethereum.org website. But crypto exchanges like Coinbase and special platforms such as Lido enable ether holders to participate in staking and earn rewards without meeting the 32 ETH minimum. The platforms can issue liquid-staking derivatives, or tokens that represent users’ staked ether. The derivative tokens can be transferred or used in other decentralized finance applications while the staked ether they represent remains locked up and earning interest
Full story : Ethereum Gears Up For Next Big Upgrade; $29 Billion Of Ether To Be Unlocked.
