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According to the timeline provided by the Ethereum Foundation, the Shapella upgrade is only about two days away. With this upgrade will come the ability for stakers to finally withdraw their staked ETH, which has led to anticipation around the upgrade. During this time, ETH’s price has seen a good run-up, at one point breaking above $1,900. And despite the drawdown, the number of Ethereum investors who are seeing a profit has grown drastically.
ETH Holders In Profit Reaches 11-Month High
A recent report from Glassnode has revealed that Ethereum holders see profits at rates not seen since 2022. This was before the Terra collapse that sent the market spiraling and prices of digital assets in the space crashed.
Presently, the percentage of addresses in the green on a 7-day moving average sits at 68.430%, which is the highest in almost one year. It has risen over the last few months from below 50% to its present level as the price of ETH recovered quickly.
ETH addresses in profit returns to 11-month highs | Source: Glassnode
The same recovery trends have been seen across other metrics for the blockchain ahead of the Shapella upgrade. Another significant one is the number of non-zero ETH addresses. This metric is one which takes into account all Ethereum addresses that hold a balance above zero and it recently reached a new all-time high of 97,108,036.
Data from IntoTheBlock shows that much of the Ethereum supply is still dominated by large holders, which would explain the asset’s ability to hold its value without many fluctuations in recent times. These ‘diamond hands’ make up 72% of all ETH holders.
What To Expect From Ethereum Shapella Upgrade
The Shapella upgrade is expected to take place on April 12, 20223, at epoch 194,048. When this happens, withdrawals for staked ETH would be opened up. However, unlike what is widely believed, not all stakes would be able to withdraw at once.
ETH still holding firmly above $1,800 | Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com
The Ethereum Foundation has previously said that the withdrawals would be staggered, giving room for the market to absorb the new supply that would likely flood the market. But there is also a good chance that a lot of the stakers would choose to continue staking.
This is because staking protocols such as Lido Finance have already provided staked with stETH and the like which they are able to trade for liquidity, so for many, there would be no point selling their staked ETH for liquidity, especially with ETH prices being so far down from its all-time high. So while many expect that the withdrawals would tank the price of ETH, the reverse may very well be the case.
At the time of writing, ETH is still holding strong above $1,860, with 1.20% gains in the last day and 2.84% gains in the last seven days.
