The Ethereum ($ETH) network is creating roughly 130,000 new unique addresses every day, as an on-chain activity for the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization continues to rise.
According to statistics from Ethereum blockchain explorer Etherscan, which was originally observed by Finbold, the Ethereum network’s unique addresses increased from 217.6 million at the start of the year to about 221.3 million at the time of writing, suggesting a daily rise of around 130,000.
An address in a public blockchain, such as Ethereum’s, is a unique identifier that allows users to send and receive transactions but does not reflect a single user because a person may generate several addresses for free. Some privacy advocates recommend that users create a separate address for each transaction.
In September 2022, the network performed a key upgrade known as the Merge, in which the Beacon Chain joined with the Ethereum mainnet, allowing it to convert from a Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism to a Proof-of-Stake one. It is currently planning another significant overhaul known as Shanghai.
Having the Shanghai update, network validators with Ethereum staked on-chain will be able to withdraw their cash together with the interest they’ve accrued over time. Since the Beacon Chain initially made staking deposits possible, ETH has been locked on the network.
As previously reported by CryptoGlobe, Ethereum’s core developers have selected March 2023 as the preliminary date for Shanghai, implying that Ethereum stakeholders may soon be allowed to withdraw their staked assets off the network.
Notably, as Shanghai approaches and the price of Ethereum rises, on-chain data shows that shark addresses have been “aggressively” acquiring the cryptocurrency.
According to data from on-chain analytics firm Santiment, wallets holding 100 to 10,000 $ETH, equal to $162,000 to $16.2 million at the time of writing, have been accumulating the cryptocurrency since early November, with about 3,000 new shark addresses generated.
According to the company, there are now 48,556 shark addresses, the most since February 2021. It’s worth noting that shark addresses are connected with large holdings, with the whale cohort being the largest.
According to a recent CoinShares study, 60% of the 43 fund managers polled, who control a combined $390 billion in assets, believe Ethereum has the most promising development prospects in 2023.
