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Ether (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency and the largest altcoin, has reached a new milestone. The value of staked ETH, which protects the Ethereum network from attacks, has reached $52.3 billion. This indicates a high level of security and protection for the Ethereum network.
The Ethereum network has reached a new milestone with the highest level of locked ETH in the history, which is 26.23 million ETH, under the ETH 2.0 Staking Contract. The value of the protecting ETH reached $52.3 billion at one point.
Ethereum network transitioned from Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism to Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism after the September’s Merge update. In the past, the security of the network came from the enormous amount of electricity required to solve mathematical puzzles. However, with the transition to Proof of Stake, the Ethereum network is now protected by stakers who stake 32 ETH to validate new blocks.
The transition to Proof of Stake has significantly increased the security of the Ethereum network, as attackers would need to control the majority of staked ETH to carry out an attack like the 51% attack. With the current value of staked ETH exceeding $50 billion, such an attack becomes almost impossible.
The consensus mechanism of a network like Ethereum ensures secure verification and addition of new blocks. The consensus mechanism is a critical aspect of any blockchain network, and targeting the consensus mechanism with an attack method like the 51% attack can cause irreparable damage to the blockchain network.
Current State of ETH
Meanwhile, the price of the largest altcoin, ETH, is trading at $1,887 with a 0.26% decrease during the day. The court’s decision on July 13 in the case opened by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Ripple, stating that XRP is not a security, has pushed ETH and other altcoins upwards. The king of altcoins surpassed $2,000 and reached $2,022.
Since then, the king of altcoins has been moving downwards, and market experts state that ETH needs to strongly surpass the $2,000 level in order to start an upward trend.
