Ethereum sees spike in one-time ETH depositors ahead of Shanghai upgrade

Ethereum news this week will likely be dominated by one of the cryptocurrency’s biggest events since its proof-of-stake switch – the activation of the Shanghai upgrade. 

As far as Ethereum holders are concerned, this highly anticipated network upgrade will among other things, enable ETH withdrawals. In short, Shanghai will allow staked Ether to be withdrawn. This will be the first time depositors will have access to their tokens since the Beacon Chain shipped on 1 December 2020.

The upgrade is expected to ship on 12 April 2023 and its seeing an increase in one-time stakers, even as data shows monthly ETH deposits have dropped. As Invezz reported this morning, the dip comes in the wake of regulatory pressure on staking.

One-time deposits for ETH staking soars

According to on-chain data and financial metrics provider Glassnode, the deposit contract is seeing a surge in one-time deposits. The firm notes that the same trend occurred during past major Ethereum events, including the Merge upgrade that went live on 15 September 2022.

Ahead of Shanghai, data shows one-time deposits are also increasing. One-time depositors are investors that only lock up their ETH once in the staking pool. They are unlike recurring depositors, who often make multiple deposits on any given day.

Glassnode shared on Monday:

“The Ethereum staking pool is mainly composed of recurring depositors owning multiple validators, making up to 1000 deposits daily. However, major events such as the Beacon Chain genesis, the Merge, and the upcoming Shanghai upgrade have seen a surge in one-time depositors.”

The #Ethereum staking pool is mainly composed of recurring depositors owning multiple validators, making up to 1000 deposits daily.

However, major events such as the Beacon Chain genesis, the Merge, and the upcoming Shanghai upgrade have seen a surge in one-time depositors. pic.twitter.com/W6pkGUCtEN

— glassnode (@glassnode) April 10, 2023

ETH price outlook amid Shanghai hype

The Shanghai Upgrade will see investors have the opportunity to unstake over 18 million ETH, or approximately $36 billion worth of Ethereum. This is however just over 15% of the Ether supply that’s set to be unlocked. But it opens up the cryptocurrency to a possible volatile price swing.

For the surging one-time deposits, the anticipation could be that Shanghai will catalyse a fresh upside for prices.

Yet, ETH/USD currently trades around $1,860, while staked ETH realized price is above $2,100. With realized price for staked ETH higher, investors are facing significant pressure amid unrealized losses.

A classic “sell the news” scenario could thus invite fresh selling pressure and see ETH trade lower.