Anticipation keeps building up for Ethereum’s planned migration to being a proof-of-stake blockchain. Google searches for “Ethereum merge” just set a new all-time high.
Ethereum interest and optimism has never been higher
According to the head of research at IntoTheBlock, Lucas Outumuro who first pointed out the data, it suggests that interest and optimism around Ether (ETH) is picking up.
Google searches for “Ethereum merge” just hit an all-time high
Interest and optimism around $ETH picking up… 🤔 pic.twitter.com/L0AROoAFdR
— Lucas Outumuro (@LucasOutumuro) March 24, 2022
From the Google Trends dashboard, the “Ethereum merge” query has a rating score of 100 on the day. By region, Canada leads as the source of the most search volume, followed by Australia and the US.
This is unsurprising as the merge is the next big thing set to happen on the second-largest blockchain network. According to some projects, the event which will mark the combination of Ethereum’s execution layer with its consensus layer is set to happen in late June.
Meanwhile, Ethereum developers recently made waves by successfully carrying out the feat on a public testnet. The Kiln testnet was launched last week and is billed to be the final testnet before the upgrade is carried out on mainnet.
Similarly, ETH 2.0 staking has seen an upshoot in total ETH locked in recent times. Over 10.72 million ETH, worth around $32 billion is currently locked in the ETH 2.0 contract. ETH holders are looking to earn massive APYs when the network finally adopts PoS.
CryptoQuant also pointed out another bullish implication of the spike in locked up Ether to be an incoming supply shock and a price surge.
“Ethereum Staking Inflow is spiking which means we are having a considerable amount of #Eth getting out of circulation and that should be reflected in the price anytime soon,” elcryptotavo, an analyst for CryptoQuant wrote in a quick-take.
Ethereum price moves past $3000 level
As expected, the outcome of mounting anticipation in the merge has been positive price action for ETH. On the day, the native token of the “world computer” is trading at around $3,100, up 0.42%.
ETH reached an intra-day high of around $3,190, a level it last traded at late last month. The crypto has also been in a bull run since last week, up 5.23%.
If the market continues on this path, ETH can recover the about 35% gap from its previous ATH of $4,860. Market pundits are calling 2022 a make-it-or-break-it year for the smart contracts heavyweight. Bloomberg’s Mike McGlone predicts that if all goes right, Ether could end the year between $4000 to $5000.