Ethereum (ETH) Skyrockets 40% in a Week – The ‘Merge’ Lined up for September

• Ethereum 2.0 is set to launch on September 19th.
• Lido Staked Ether (stETH) to speed up Layer-2 integration.
• Ethereum (ETH) is up by a whopping 54% over the last 30 days.

As the crypto world finally sees some sunshine after weeks of deficits, Ethereum (ETH) has set an official date for the ‘Merge’. On September 19th, the Ethereum blockchain will cease to use the PoW (Proof of Work) model, as the top NFT network completes the long awaited switch to PoS (Proof of Stake), significantly reducing the blockchain’s carbon footprint.

Ethereum 2.0 Reaches 13M Tokens

One particular indicator that Ethereum 2.0 is ready to kick off is the milestone of reaching 13 million tokens held in smart deposit contracts. The funds could help the network to run more smoothly after the transition, once the Difficulty Bomb has been taken care of. Furthmore, on-chain analytics company Santiment reports that a pod of 131 whales has joined the network since May.

In other positive news, Lido Finance elected to cut down on fees and speed up the process of adopting Layer-2 scaling solutions for Ethereum (ETH). Normally, staking on Ethereum’s blockchain costs around $50,000. Lido Staked Ether (stETH) enables users to stake any desired amount, and with Lido dominating the ETH 2.0 market share, the move only serves to add fuel to the blockchain’s bullish trend.

Ethereum (ETH) Spikes Further

Ethereum (ETH) has welcomes a number of projects that made the switch from the now defunct Terra (LUNA) ecosystem. Thanks to the growing level of trust among retail crypto firms, helping apps like STEPN to expand onto ETH blockchain, the second largest crypto asset by market cap, Ethereum (ETH), finally broke through to the $1,500 support line.

At press time, Ethereum (ETH) trades at  $1,533.26, having recorded a 4% increase in value over the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. ETH achieved massive gains of 40% in the last 7 days, and has recorded an overall boost of a whopping 54% since last month.

Why You Should Care

Ultimately, the Ethereum 2.0 merge will be a historical moment in crypto history, and has been a highly anticpated event since its reveal in November 2020, when Ethereum Foundation announced the Beacon Chain’s deposit contract for the Serenity Upgrade.