Key Points
- Ethereum successfully deployed the Pectra upgrade on the Hoodi testnet, improving scalability and security.
- Despite this, Ethereum’s price dipped, and significant whale accumulation was observed.
Ethereum successfully launched the Pectra upgrade on the Hoodi testnet on March 26. This is the last of the three tests before the mainnet upgrade.
Pectra Upgrade and Its Impact
The Pectra upgrade is expected to significantly enhance Ethereum’s scalability and security. This will enable it to serve more users without congestion issues, improve the transaction throughput of the proof-of-stake network, and reduce latency.
Running an upgrade on a testnet, which is identical to the mainnet, allows developers to identify and fix any issues before deploying on the original network. If the upgrade on Hoodi goes smoothly, Ethereum is expected to see the upgrade on the mainnet by April 25.
One of the key features of the Pectra upgrade is that it will enable developers to run smart contracts on wallets. It will also allow users to pay gas fees in different tokens, not just Ethereum.
Whale Accumulation and Price Dip
The successful deployment of the Pectra upgrade on Hoodi led to whale accumulation due to the optimism surrounding the anticipated improvements. According to data from Lookonchain, four whale addresses withdrew nearly 16,000 ETH, worth approximately $32 million, from leading crypto exchanges like Binance, Gemini, OKX, and Kraken after the Hoodi testnet received the upgrade.
Despite this, the leading altcoin experienced a correction towards the $2,000 mark. The price of ETH recorded a 2.2% decline in the past 24 hours, despite the positive news surrounding the network. Ethereum is currently trading at $2,020.
Furthermore, the selling pressure triggered $48 million in ETH liquidations, according to data provided by CoinGlass. The total amount of crypto liquidations reached $248 million. The largest single liquidation order in the market occurred on the HTX exchange, worth $3.15 million in the ETH-USDT trading pair.
Spot ETH exchange-traded funds in the US also contributed to the bearish momentum with a net outflow of $5.9 million on March 26. The last time these investment products saw an inflow was on March 4, losing $410 million in value this month, according to data from SoSoValue.
