OKX, the world’s second-largest crypto exchange by trading volume and a leading Web3 technology company, released the findings of a survey today on the perceived market impact of the upcoming Shanghai-Capella (a.k.a. Shapella) upgrade. The upgrade, which is set to take place on April 12, will enable withdrawals of staked ether (ETH).
The survey was conducted by OKX at the ETH Denver conference from March 1-5, 2023, and involved 700 ETH traders, investors, and network developers.
According to the survey results, 83% of those surveyed expect more ETH to be staked in the next three months, while 63% predict that ETH will hit a new record high of over USD5,000 by the end of 2023.
The survey also found that 79% of respondents expect ETH’s price to react differently to Shapella than the Merge, with 59% thinking it will keep increasing before and after the upgrade, and 20% believing it will move sideways.
Additionally, 33% of respondents think ETH will be over its current six-month high of $2,000 in June 2023, but still below its 12-month high of $3,000. Meanwhile, 34% predict ETH at below $2,000, while 33% believe it will be at least $3,100 by June 2023.
As of April 5, 2023, 17.9 million ETH was staked, equivalent to over $34 billion, with investors earning an annual percentage rate (APR) of 4.65%. The APR decreases as the pool of staked ETH increases.
OKX has announced that it will begin processing withdrawal requests for staked ether within one week of Shapella going live, following completion of on-chain code audits to ensure customer safety.
The release of the survey results comes amid growing anticipation for the Shapella upgrade, which is expected to significantly impact the crypto market. As the crypto world waits to see the actual impact of the upgrade, OKX’s survey provides a glimpse of the market sentiment towards it.
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