How Ethereum navigated volatility, regulatory fears, and more in Q2
- Ethereum grew in terms of market cap dominance despite volatility in the sector.
- Interest in staking rose, and traders turned bullish.
Throughout Q2 in 2023, Ethereum[ETH] encountered significant fluctuations and high volatility. Despite these challenges, the Ethereum network demonstrated resilience and continued to attract an influx of new users to its protocol. Notably, the platform displayed substantial growth in various aspects during this period.
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A display of dominance
According to Messari’s data, the central theme dominating the near-term narrative around Ethereum was regulation. The SEC’s actions against major exchanges like Coinbase and Binance, raised concerns about assets’ classification as securities. Despite these challenges, ETH managed to increase its dominance in the market.
However, there is hope that with Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) in Europe, Ethereum’s market cap dominance will rise even further as adoption begins to rise.
For context, MiCA is part of a broader EU package aimed at updating the bloc’s approach to various digital financial aspects. MiCA primarily concentrates on crypto-asset providers and the obligations they need to declare.
Source: Messari
ETH’s strong tokenomics also played a pivotal role in driving its performance. The base fee burn experienced a substantial surge of 58% during the quarter, leading to approximately 380,000 ETH being burnt.
This mechanism helped reduce the overall supply of ETH, adding scarcity and potential upward price pressure. Additionally, the net ETH burnt also witnessed a remarkable threefold surge, rising from around 80,000 to approximately 230,000.
Source: Messari
Stake it till you make it
The surge in gas prices, propelled by the excitement surrounding PEPE, was the driving force behind the higher burn of ETH. As a result, validators saw their real yields rise to an impressive 6.1%.
This increase in yields, coupled with the unlocking of staking, naturally attracted more flows into the staking contracts. May and June observed the highest-ever net flows, with 3 million and 1.9 million ETH respectively, further contributing to the growth and engagement of staking within the Ethereum network.
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Additionally, the number of validators on the Ethereum network also surged. According to Staking Rewards’ data, the number of validators on the Ethereum network grew by 8.81% over the last month.
Source: Staking Rewards
Due to these factors, traders were feeling bullish about ETH’s future. This was indicated by the declining put-to-call ratio for ETH, which indicated that the number of calls exceeded the number of puts at press time.
Source: TheBlock
