Ethereum [ETH]: Dipping prices, rising negative sentiments and everything in between

• Ethereum Proof-of-Stake network experienced a drop in active validator count since the Shapella upgrade.
• ETH’s value has since posted a double-digit decline. 

Since Ethereum’s [ETH] Shapella upgrade went live on 12 April, there has been a steep decline in active validator count on the proof-of-stake (POS) network, data from Glassnode revealed.

Source: Glassnode

Read Ethereum’s Price Prediction 2023-2024

Information obtained from the on-chain data provider put the active validator count on the network at 562,941 on 12 April. Just 24 hours after the Shanghai upgrade went live, this fell to 561,655, where it has since remained.

Observed on a 30-day moving average, the total number of validators that voluntarily exited Ethereum’s validator pool since Shapella rose significantly by over 400%. 

Source: Glassnode

The continued decline in active validator count on the Ethereum POS network is due to a rally in the withdrawals of previously deposited ETH coins by some validators on the network.

Following the Shapella upgrade, validators that had previously secured the network with more than 18 million ETH were free to initiate withdrawals, which some of them did. According to a Nansen dashboard, 10,675 validators were scheduled for full exit in the last hour at press time.

ETH prices take a plunge

Many expected ETH’s value to dip significantly once Shapella went live due to increased withdrawals and sell-offs to make a profit by those who had initially staked their ETH coins. In contrast, the alt’s value rose momentarily after the upgrade. 

According to data from CoinMarketCap, ETH’s price jumped by 14% between 12 and 16 April. As of 16 April, the leading altcoin traded above $2000, after which the price descent began. Exchanging hands at $1,897.75 at press time, ETH’s price has since decreased by 11%. 

Source: CoinMarketCap

Despite the price fall, ETH whales that hold between 100,000 to 10,000,000 ETH coins have intensified accumulation. Per data from Santiment, since the Shapella, the count of these big whales increased by 2.5%.

Conversely, whales that hold between 1,000 and 100,000 ETH coins have taken a risk-averse approach and dumped some of their ETH holdings. Data from Santiment revealed that their number has gone down by 1% since Shapella. 

Source: Santiment

Realistic or not, here’s ETH’s market cap in BTC terms

Further, while the ephemeral jump in ETH’s value following the Shapella upgrade caused market sentiment to turn positive on 14 April, the price decline caused the alt’s weighted sentiment to return to negative territory, where it has since remained.

At press time, this was -1.172. With persistent negative sentiment lingering in the market, any significant spike in ETH’s price might be hard to come by. 

Source: Santiment