according According to a recent survey by OKX, the second largest global cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, the vast majority of the Ethereum (ETH) community expects an increase in ETH bets around the time of the Shapella upgrade. Most importantly, the majority expects the ETH price to reach a new all-time high.
The Ethereum community is bullish for the coming months
The survey conducted by OKX provides insight into the Ethereum community’s expectations for the future of the network. According to the survey, most of the respondents expect an increase in ETH stakes in the next three months, driven in part by the upcoming Shapella upgrade; More exactly 83% of the respondents believe in this theory.
In terms of price predictions, 63% of those surveyed believe that ETH will reach a new record high of over $5,000 by the end of 2023. However, there is some disagreement among respondents on how the price of ETH will react to the Shapella upgrade. 59% expect the price to continue rising before and after the upgrade, and 20% expect a period of sideways movement.
When asked specifically about the price of ETH in June 2023, 33% of respondents expected it to be above its six-month high of $2,000 but below its 12-month high of $3,000. Meanwhile, 34% expect ETH to be below $2,000, while 33% believe it will be at least $3,100.
Staking ETH is growing in popularity
According to the survey, as of April 5, 2023, 17.9 million ETH were placed on the Ethereum network. This represents a significant amount of value, equating to more than $34 billion, which highlights the growing popularity of staking ETH to generate passive income in the industry.
Additionally, investors who stake in ETH can earn an annual percentage rate (APR) of 4.64% on their holdings. However, as the pool of pegged ETH increases, the annual percentage rate decreases, reflecting the increased competition among speculators for rewards.
According to OKX, it plans to begin processing withdrawal requests for its stacked ETH within one week of the launch of the Shapella upgrade to meet the growing demand for staking ETH.
OKX conducted the survey at the ETH Denver conference from March 1-5, 2023, among 700 respondents, including ETH traders, investors, and network developers, according to OKX.
Overall, the growing popularity of ETH betting and the increasing amount of value locked onto the Ethereum network reflect the growing maturity and adoption of the nascent industry over the past months, along with the confidence that investors have regained as the cryptocurrency winter approaches.
ETH is trading sideways at $1,850, which is down 0.6% over the past 24 hours. However, the cryptocurrency is still holding onto its gains gained in the past seven days, with a gain of 3.5% in the seven-day time frame.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView.com