Shortly after the successful update of the Shapella Ethereum network, the value of Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, surged to $2,100, bringing it back to its May 2022 position.
Experts monitoring the network growth rate have stated that Ether is currently leading the cryptocurrency markets in terms of market value expansion.
During the day, the price of ETH increased by almost 7%, peaking at $2,130.
Over the course of the seven-day period, Ether saw an increase of almost 13%, pushing the asset’s market capitalization above $252 billion.
However, by Friday evening on April 14, ETH had slightly declined in value, trading within the $2,097 range.
Experts within the crypto community had not anticipated that the hard fork and the resumption of withdrawals from the Ethereum staking pool would result in any significant pressure from sellers or increase in price.
Nevertheless, ETH has exhibited robust growth since April 13, recovering its highest positions in eleven months.
According to Matthew Niemerg, co-founder of the Aleph Zero blockchain network, it is possible that more investors will want to lock up some liquidity after the successful network upgrade and secure the return of ETH, thereby reducing the asset’s available supply.
Etherscan data indicates that since the upgrade was completed, a total of 27,746 ETH ($58.5 million) has been withdrawn from staking.
According to Rated online browser, around 300,000 users have applied for withdrawals, with only 17,000 intending to withdraw their assets fully.
Customers of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange were advised that the withdrawal process could take anywhere from 15 days to several weeks, depending on the Ethereum network’s load.