Ethereum network validator numbers remained stable despite the bear market. Declining interest in whales, network growth, speed and trade sentiment raised concerns.
Validators on Ethereum [ETH] could play an important role in the future of the network. New data on Feb. 6 suggested that the number of new validators added to the network in 2022 remained constant, even during the bear market.
Did you know that there were 218,068 new Ethereum validators (worth nearly 7 million ETH) in 2022 alone?
This was about the same number of validators as in 2021.
Bull or bear, the demand for ETH staking is insatiable. pic.twitter.com/4gIthHw6KP
— sassal.eth 🦇🔊 (@sassal0x) February 6, 2023
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So there was interest among strikers, even in a volatile market. The upcoming Shanghai upgrade was expected to further incentivize new validators to join the network.
The recent interest from validators could be driven by the positive developments surrounding Ethereum.
Looking at the positives
A positive indicator for Ethereum was the falling number of lost addresses, which hit a five-month low, according to Glassnode.
However, despite this positive news, interest in whales has waned over the past month. If large addresses decide to sell their investments, this could have a negative impact on retail investors.
Source: glasnode
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Ethereum’s declining network growth could be a reason for the decline in interest in whales as new addresses transferring ETH saw cuts for the first time. This suggested that new addresses showed no interest in the network.
Source: Sentiment
Another reason for the lack of interest in whales could be the decline in Ethereum’s speed, meaning the frequency of ETH transactions decreased.
In addition, trade sentiment also turned negative during this period. According to Coinglass, short positions against Ethereum increased. This increase in short positions increased after February 1. At the time of writing, the percentage of short positions against ETH was 51.57%.
Source: Coinglass
While traders were pessimistic about Ethereum, a new development with Visa could increase the network’s chances of success. According to a Feb. 6 tweet, Visa used the Ethereum network to test USDT transactions.
VISA: We tested how to actually accept settlement payments from issuers in USDC starting on Ethereum and cash out in USDC on Ethereum. And these are settlement payments of great value. https://t.co/M2PkeQDNBL
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) February 6, 2023
Read Ethereum’s [ETH] Price forecast 2023-2024
The aforementioned partnership could help increase Ethereum adoption and improve sentiment among traders and whalers.
Overall, the number of validators on the network and their continued growth, despite market volatility, suggested a promising future. The collaboration between the Shanghai Upgrade and Visa are important indicators to watch out for, as they have the potential to positively impact the adoption of the king altcoin and its overall future.
This post The future of Ethereum depends on validators amid declining interest and market trends
was published first on https://ambcrypto.com/ethereums-future-hinges-on-validators-amidst-declining-interest-and-market-trends/
