The number of validators on the Ethereum 2.0 blockchain has topped a milestone of 60,000 in only six weeks of being live.
According to the Beacon Chain analytics platform, there are currently 60,189 active validators on the network with a further 16,156 waiting in the queue. BeaconScan is reporting similar figures which means the network, which was launched on Dec 1, is more secure than ever.
The validator milestone was noted by the Ethereum community’s Josh Stark who compared the ETH 2.0 validator numbers with rival blockchains.
ETH Killers Can’t Keep Up
Stark compared the number of validators on ETH 2.0 with the so-called ‘Ethereum killers’ using data from Coin98 Analytics. Of the ten rival chains analyzed, Avalanche was the next highest with a reported 716 validators.
The Tezos platform had just 496 while the even more hyped Polkadot had 288, according to the stats.
EOS, which was recently rocked by news of the resignation of CTO Dan Larimer, was nowhere to be seen with just 21 semi-centralized validators. Cardano was missing from the list as several respondents noticed, but according to Staking Rewards, it only has a total of 1,453 active validators.
The amount of ETH currently staked in the deposit contract for ETH 2.0 is 2.46 million according to the Launchpad dashboard. At today’s prices, this equates to $2.7 billion or 2.16% of the entire supply. The supply fraction does not sound like much, but it should be noted that this ETH cannot be sold and has been effectively locked away for at least a year.
It will only re-enter circulation when Phase 1.5 of the Serenity upgrade merges the ETH 1.0 chain with ETH 2.0. Currently, stakers are earning a 10% annual yield on ETH, which itself has increased in value by 83% since Beacon Chain was launched.
For a blockchain that isn’t actually doing anything yet, ETH 2.0 is already way ahead of its rivals.
Ethereum Price Outlook
Ethereum prices have rebounded slightly over the past 24 hours and currently trading for $1,120.
ETH prices are mirroring Bitcoin’s movements again as crypto markets attempt to revisit last week’s highs. Unless ETH can break its previous peak of $1,350 on Jan. 10, it might form a ‘lower high,’ potentially indicating that the correction could become extended
Unfortunately for Ethereum users, gas prices also approached their all-time high as demand on the network increases.