The Ethereum network reaches 500,000 validators ahead of the upcoming Shanghai Upgrade
The number of Ethereum (ETH) validators has reached 500,000, per data from BeaconScan, ahead of the Shanghai Upgrade scheduled for March.
A validator secures a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain by validating transactions on the network and protecting them from double-spending errors, among other activities.
To use the validator program in Ethereum ; You should be able to stake a large initial investment of 32 ETH, worth around $50,000 at current prices.
The Ethereum blockchain has relied on validators to maintain its functionality since it implemented the merger on September 15, 2022, moving the network out of the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism.
The validation milestone comes as Ethereum's core developers look to implement the so-called Shanghai Update, scheduled for March.
After this update, validators will finally be able to withdraw ETH stakes and rewards earned from betting so far.
However, withdrawal amounts will be capped at 43,200 ETH per day from the total amount of ETH held. This total currently hovers at around 16 million ETH, per Etherscan.This limit is expected to prevent a sudden exodus of auditors.
Ethereum Endorsements Rise
This is not the only factor that can push the number of validators up.
Popular cryptocurrency wallet MetaMask recently launched a new storage function ; Which means that users can now stake their Ethereum using liquid staking protocols such as Lido or Rocket Pool.
Lido and Rocket Pool allow users to share less than the 32 Ethereum required to participate. In exchange for their deposits, they received tokens derived from liquidity ; They are called LSDs, which can be used to earn additional prizes in DeFi .
In light of these developments, ETH has performed well over the past week, up 18.3% per CoinGecko.