April 12, 2023 marked a significant milestone for Ethereum (ETH), as the long-awaited Shanghai upgrade (“Shanghai”) was successfully implemented.

According to a report from CoinShares, Ethereum-linked products saw little investment interest with inflows of around $300,000 in the week ending April 14, despite the recent upgrade of the blockchain. In contrast, Bitcoin received the lion’s share of $104 million, marking the fourth week in a row of inflows, which CoinShares believes is a flight to safety by investors fearful of ongoing challenges in traditional finance. On-chain analysis company CryptoQuant showed that during the period between April 13 and 17, cryptocurrency exchanges saw a net inflow of about 131,395 Ether ($273.3 million), with over 1.46 million Ether transferred to the exchanges, typically indicating selling intention from crypto holders. (forkast)

According to a research report by Coinbase, the successful upgrade of the Ethereum blockchain during the Shanghai Fork, also known as Shappela, supported better than expected price action for ether (ETH). The upgrade allows validators to withdraw staked ether and rewards that have been locked up, which has limited ether supply due to the majority of addresses receiving partial withdrawals not spending their rewards and a healthy number of new entrants in the validator entry queue. Furthermore, ether's relative underperformance versus bitcoin year-to-date has left room for catch-up post the upgrade, leading to some rotation from bitcoin into ether. The macro environment also remains conducive to risk-taking, which may support ether's price through the end of April.

Bitcoin (BTC) continued to trade in a narrow range over the weekend, around $30,000, after a week of volatility. Ethereum (ETH), on the other hand, has been relatively quiet and has remained around $2,100 after gaining over 13% in the past seven days, partly thanks to the recently concluded Shanghai upgrade.

As of this writing, Ethereum recorded an 8-month high, climbing north of $2,000 for the first time in 2023 and potentially reaching its next resistance area.

Almost 24 hours ago, the Ethereum (ETH) long-awaited Shanghai Upgrade took place successfully. Many have anticipated a dip alongside the upgrade. However, contrary to expectations, the price of Ether (ETH) has been on an upward trajectory since the upgrade took place.

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Ether rose to $1,994 on Thursday, reaching the highest point since August. The rally comes after the successful Shapella network upgrade, which enables withdrawals for users who have staked their ether. Ether has gained over 3% since the upgrade, while bitcoin has added less than 2%. The demand for unstaking ether has been moderate, and the biggest unstaker so far has been Kraken, which is shutting down its staking service for U.S. users as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Liquid staking solution Lido makes up around 31% of all ether deposits. Year-to-date, ether is up 65.25%, compared to bitcoin, up 82.04%.

This update, known as EIP-4895, will enable ETH validators to unlock their staked ETH within the network. As a result, staked ETH and associated rewards will become accessible, considerably increasing ETH liquidity in the cryptocurrency market.

Blockchain Capital has sold significant amounts of liquid staking derivatives (LSDs) ahead of Ethereum's Shanghai upgrade. According to Lookonchain, the venture firm sold 1.5 million LDO worth $2.52 million and 65,352 RPL worth $2.9 million, no longer holding any LDO but retaining 107,085 RPL valued at $4.52 million.