What’s Driving ETH? The highly anticipated December 1 phase zero implementation of the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade, Serenity
Ethereum (ETH) is up 23% over the month of November and currently sits at about $470. This past week, the second-largest cryptocurrency hit a new year-to-date high at $495, benefiting from an increase in deposits into DeFi and the ETH2 deposit contract.
ETH has been steadily rising since September in anticipation of the upcoming Ethereum 2.0 Serenity upgrade. We previously explained how the upgrade would impact price, noting that Serenity would increase demand for Ethereum transactions on the network due to increased speeds, decreased costs, and more utility. Ether is required to send transactions, so demand for the crypto is expected to rise with transactions.
Vitalik Buterin, a creator of Ethereum, stated in an AMA that ETH 2.0 would most likely come out on December 1st. This date is dependent on the project securing at least 524,288 ETH so that the Beacon Chain can ship securely.
So far, only 20% of the necessary amount of ETH has been staked in the ETH2 deposit contract, according to Cointelegraph, which could delay the update to early 2021. If the Ethereum 2.0 update deadline is missed, selling pressure could increase. This could push the price back down below the $460 support level, while panic selling could push ETH down below the critical $400 level.
The Ethereum network hashrate has increased 16% since September as more miners have joined the network ahead of ETH2. As the hashrate grows, so does the security of the network.
Ethereum hashrate, 1 year, via Bitinfocharts.com
ETH at a glance
- Price: $471.81
- 24hr % change +0.16
- Weekly % change +2.17
- Market cap: $53.8 Billion
- 24 hour trading volume:
- 24 hour low: $$466.09
- 24 hour high: $481.67
- Circulating token supply: 113,497,083
ETH/USD, 6H line, November 2020 via OKCoin
What is ETH?
ETH is the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network.
Ethereum is designed as a “world computer” and runs on a vast and distributed network of nodes and provides a foundation for a new era of the internet; web 3.
Ethereum blockchain features a programmatic language that supports the use of smart contracts called Solidity. Self-executing and code-based, smart contracts enable the development of dApps, which form much of the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. Smart contracts also allow for programmable tokens, meaning token creation (ERC-20) and tokenization of assets which has contributed to the growth and usability of cryptocurrencies.
On July 29th, the 5th anniversary of Ethereum, we created an Ethereum timeline that highlights the network’s development milestones.
Ethereum 2.0 resources:
- Explaining the Ethereum 2.0 Serenity Update
- Ethereum 2.0 Update, Part 1: Optimistic & ZK Rollups
- Ethereum 2.0 Update, Part 2: ETH2 is on Track for November
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