The Ethereum ecosystem recently reached a significant milestone, boasting one million validators and 32 million Ether staked, totaling a valuation of roughly $114 billion at current market rates.
As of March 28, data from the Dune Analytics dashboard, developed by Hildobby to monitor Ethereum staking progress, revealed the network’s validator count hitting the one million mark. The 32 million ETH staked represents approximately 26% of the total supply.
Furthermore, the statistics indicate that about 30% of the staked ETH is channeled through the Ethereum staking pool Lido, a platform facilitating liquid staking for proof-of-stake (PoS) cryptocurrencies.
Staking pools such as Lido continue to enjoy popularity due to their ability to enable users with smaller ETH holdings to combine their assets and participate in staking activities.
Court rejects SEC claim that Coinbase Wallet is unregistered broker
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed the SEC’s assertion that Coinbase Wallet functions as an unregistered broker. Additionally, Judge Katherine Polk Failla rejected the request to halt Coinbase crypto exchange’s staking program.
Judge Failla determined that Coinbase Inc. conducted a sale and offering of securities by U.S. law, contradicting the SEC’s allegations in a previous lawsuit. Furthermore, she stated that Coinbase functions as an exchange, broker, and clearing agency under federal securities laws. Through its staking program, Coinbase participates in the unregistered sale and offering of securities.
The decision partially granted Coinbase’s motion to dismiss the SEC’s lawsuit alleging the company violated its rules.
However, the Court agrees with Defendants that they are entitled to dismissal of the claim that Coinbase acts as an unregistered broker by making its Wallet application available to customers.
MicroStrategy’s capitalization reaches record highs amid Bitcoin’s $70k recovery
According to data from Companies Market Cap, MicroStrategy currently ranks 606th among the largest companies globally by market capitalization. Year-to-date, its market capitalization has nearly tripled, showing an impressive growth of 135.7% over the past month.
Since the beginning of 2024, MicroStrategy’s (MSTR) stock price has surged by approximately 200%, reaching around $1,880 at the time of writing. This significant increase contrasts with its price of $141 at the start of 2023, representing a jump to $670.71 during this period. However, despite these gains, experts from 10x Research consider MSTR to be overvalued.
The daily uptick in market capitalization, growing by 1.13%, correlates with Bitcoin’s recovery to $70,000. Current data from CoinMarketCap indicates that BTC is trading at approximately $71,600.
From March 11 to March 18, MicroStrategy made a significant purchase of 9,245 BTC, amounting to $623 million. As of the latest data, the company holds a total of 214,246 BTC on its balance sheet, which was acquired at an average price of $35,160 per Bitcoin.
MicroStrategy is now shifting its focus to becoming a development company centered around Bitcoin and related products. This marks a departure from its original emphasis on creating and supporting analytical software.
Founder Michael Saylor has reiterated the company’s commitment to holding its Bitcoin reserves for both the short and long term, indicating no intention to sell the cryptocurrency reserves.
Read more: CRYPTO MARKET REVIEW IN 2023 AND NARRATIVES IN 2024