Ethereum users have deposited more than 5.3 million Ether into Eth2, the largest deposit contract so far. According to the latest data from Etherscan, the total value of Eth2 is now just slightly over $14 billion.
More than 1 million Ether was deposited to Eth2 during May.
This contract was initiated by none other than Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum himself. In early November 2020, Buterin deposited 3,200 Ether into the contract, an investment that’s worth $8.3 million today. Considering it was valued at around $1.3 million when the deposit was made, both Buterin and all of the validators who deposited during the launch period have made a pretty penny on their investment.
There are over 28,000 unique depositors on the Eth2 contract at the moment.
Becoming a validator today is an expensive endeavour that only looks to get more expensive in the future. Just to get started, you need 32 Ether, which is $83,491 according to the latest exchange rate. Not exactly pocket change for most people. Still, many are trying to get onto this gravy train as the Ethereum platform continues to gain popularity online. At the time of writing this article, a dozen transactions worth 32 ETH or more were in the queue for confirmation. In other words, Ethereum enthusiasts are still very much on board with the idea.
Ether soared to a record-high $4,362 in May 2021.
May was a particularly volatile month for cryptocurrencies, with Ether being no exception. On May 12, it reached an all-time high of $4,362. Less than two weeks later, the market suffered a collapse following a cryptocurrency ban in China, causing Ether to drop below $1,800. Still, it remained the most popular currency at many casino sites and the most traded altcoin after Bitcoin. Today, Ether is sitting at around $2,610 after slowly recovering from the crash. As always, what happens next is up to speculation. Barring any unforeseen developments, though, we expect the price to continue rising during June.
