Ethereum (ETH) continued to trade sideways on Wednesday, with investors eagerly awaiting a price catalyst. Despite the stagnant price, the ETH validator queue experienced a significant increase, possibly driven by the DeFi restaking trend.
Key market movers for Ethereum include:
– The validator queue for Ethereum surged by over 150% in April, reaching 21,551, the highest level since September 2023. The number of active validators on the network is also approaching one million.
– The rise in validator interest is attributed to the popularity of maximizing yields through Ethereum restaking. Users can earn additional rewards by staking their ETH tokens to provide security to other protocols like bridges and oracles.
– Ethereum’s burn rate exceeded its emissions in Q1, with over 113,000 ETH taken out of circulation. This indicates that ETH is gradually becoming deflationary despite not having a supply cap.
Additionally, Ethereum saw an increase in Layer 2 adoption in Q1, with over 900 million transactions processed. While some whales bought ETH during the recent market dip, there is growing FUD surrounding the asset.
Technical analysis suggests that Ethereum may continue trading sideways between $2,852 and $3,301 in the coming days. Factors such as geopolitical tensions, Bitcoin dominance, and regulatory decisions could influence price movements. Long liquidations have slowed down, indicating that bearish momentum may be weakening.
At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at $2,989. Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain platform known for its smart contract functionality and Ether (ETH) cryptocurrency. Staking is a process where investors lock their assets to earn rewards, commonly used in Proof-of-Stake mechanisms. Ethereum recently transitioned to a PoS mechanism to enhance security and scalability while reducing energy consumption.