Ethereum prices have performed well in 2020 due to increased demand from DeFi applications and yield farming opportunities.
The primary catalyst could be just around the corner, however, as ETH 2.0 genesis inches ever closer.
Since the beginning of this year, Ethereum prices have gained 170% from below $140 on New Year’s Day to current levels of around $380. There is no doubt that the primary driver of demand has been the DeFi sector which has surged itself by 200% in terms of Ethereum locked up.
Today, there are almost 9 million ETH, or nearly 8% of the entire supply, locked across various DeFi protocols according to DeFi Pulse. That demand for yield farming has driven ETH prices this year as they outperform Bitcoin which has only made around 62% over the same period.
A bigger move could be on the cards for Ethereum before this year is out as lead developers have hinted at a Beacon Chain genesis in around six weeks’ time.
Commenting on the dwindling participation on the Medalla testnet, ConsenSys developer Ben Edgington stated that this is unlikely to be the case on Beacon Chain when it delivers real staking rewards;
“To be fair, I don’t expect this situation to arise on a network with real value at stake. People will be working hard to keep the network finalising. It’s exactly why we need to move on from the testnets now.”
When people asked if the testnet was ‘broken’ he added it has low participation because people are bored of testnets. At the time of writing, there was just over 50% network participation and it needs 66% to reach finality.
It is for this reason that the teams behind the testing and development of ETH 2.0 want to push out the real thing within the next six weeks or so. Edgington has already stated that the deposit contract is good to go and may even launch this week.
