Assessing the state of Ethereum as ETH rises by 15% in a week

• Ethereum sees positive trends with increased validator demand and growth in staked ETH.
• Concerns arise as network growth declined, suggesting potential reliance on existing holders.

While Bitcoin [BTC] takes the lead in terms of growth, Ethereum [ETH] has also commenced its upward trajectory.

Seeing some growth

Recent data indicated a significant increase in the demand for Ethereum validators since the beginning of the year.

Validators play a crucial role in securing the Ethereum network by validating transactions and maintaining consensus. This surge in demand indicates heightened interest or usage of Ethereum’s validation services, reflecting positive momentum within the ecosystem.

Ethereum validator demand with a strong start to the year

activation queue: pic.twitter.com/zoi5luytUN

— parsec (@parsec_finance) February 13, 2024

A further sign of increasing interest in Ethereum is the escalating quantity of Ethereum being staked on the network. The amount of staked ETH witnessed a substantial increase in the past month, reaching 30.118 million ETH at the current press time.

The staked ETH’s reward rate stood at 4.427%, indicating the return earned by those who participated in the staking process. Notably, the inflation rate associated with Ethereum has experienced a considerable decrease over the recent days.

Source: Staking Rewards

In terms of price, Ethereum was doing relatively well. At press time, ETH was trading at $2,653.19 and its price had grown by 6.24% in the last 24 hours.

However, this surge in price wasn’t isolated as it was a part of a larger trend that was led by Bitcoin which caused other altcoins to grow as well.

📈 Lost in the celebration of #Bitcoin‘s $50K breach, #Ethereum and other #altcoin market caps have grown significantly themselves. Traders have increased volume by +65.3% compared to the week prior, and assets like $BEAM (+70%), $KAS (+45%), & $IMX (+29%) have rewarded #hodlers. pic.twitter.com/nifCod5EUH

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) February 13, 2024

Some problems ahead

A concerning factor for ETH was its declining network growth. This meant that new addresses were losing interest in ETH which indicated that the surge in ETH’s price could be caused due to old addresses accumulating more ETH.

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A lack of interest from new investors may hinder ETH’s ability to grow further.

The MVRV ratio for ETH had also grown over the last few days suggesting that many of ETHs holders were profitable. This could make them more likely to sell their holdings, causing downward pressure on price.

Source: Santiment