Ethereum developers held their 151st developers' meeting on December 8 to discuss several topics, one of which was the next hard fork for the blockchain. On September 15, Ethereum made history after implementing its highly anticipated hard fork that saw the network pivot from a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism to a proof-of-stake (PoS) validation system.

At the meeting, ETH developers revealed that the next hard fork in the series of hard forks for the Ethereum blockchain, dubbed the Shanghai hard fork, was set to take place in March 2023.

The Shanghai hard fork will reportedly address the network’s staked Ethereum (stETH) withdrawals, one of the most talked-about issues on the network. At press time, data from beaconcha.in shows that the Beacon Chain contract has exactly 15,572,294 ether staked on the network, which is valued at about $19.85 billion going by the present exchange rate of $1,275 per ether.

For some time now, a lot of ETH has been locked into the Beacon Chain contract. To unlock these tokens, one or more hard forks will be needed to create access. Speaking on the subject, Ethereum Core Developer Tim Beiko stated that many stakeholders are eagerly awaiting the ability to withdraw staked ETH. According to Beiko, “This is clearly the highest priority for everybody.” He added: “People seem to generally want a target around March-ish.”

Ethereum Sharks and Whales on an Accumulation Spree

In other news, data from on-chain analytics giant Santiment shows that Ethereum whales and sharks are accumulating ETH tokens at a massive rate, indicating that a bullish bump could be around the corner for the second-largest cryptocurrency.

Whales and sharks are classified as crypto wallets that hold between 100 ETH and 1 million ETH.

According to the data from Santiment, the pace of accumulation seen among Ethereum whales and sharks has returned to pre-Merge levels, when expectations for the Merge were high. The metric used by Santiment is the “ETH supply distribution,” which indicates the percentage of ether supply being held by different wallet groups.

According to a Santiment report, the percentage of Ethereum supply held by wallets within the 100K to 1M wallet range has grown exponentially in recent weeks. The report showed that between December 5 and 6, alone, the ETH supply distribution spiked by a whopping 561K ETH. As we know, coin accumulation by this group, especially whales, is considered a significantly bullish sign.

What Is the Ethereum Price Doing?

Ethereum appears to be holding on to the $1,265 pivot base and support, as the cryptocurrency refuses to print a markdown as anticipated by many analysts.

The recent report from Santiment that whales and sharks are accumulating ETH at a notable pace could make it even more difficult for bears to breach the mentioned support mark and could even put more distance between the price and the support level in the coming days and weeks.

That said, December could be working toward ending on a bullish note, which could serve the cryptocurrency well in the coming year.

ETH Statistics Data

ETH Current Price: $1,275

ETH Market Cap: $155.9B

ETH Circulating Supply: 122.3M

ETH Total Supply: 122.3M

ETH Market Ranking: #2

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Disclaimer

This article should not be taken as financial advice. It is essential to conduct research before making any investment decisions.

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