• Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade, live since May 7, marks a major leap in staking, scalability, and smart wallet functionality.
• Pectra slashed blob fees and doubled blob capacity, significantly enhancing Ethereum’s scalability and rollup efficiency.
• ETH market cap soared 42% post-upgrade, fueled by investor confidence and rising futures market interest.

Ethereum’s long-awaited Pectra upgrade has already made its mark on the Proof-of-Stake network. 

Pectra – a portmanteau of Prague (execution layer) and Electra (consensus layer) upgrades intended to deliver a raft of significant improvements – has occupied an oversized presence in the Ethereum mindshare since going live on May 7.

And it’s little wonder given the way the upgrade’s been greeted by the wider community.

With TradFi institutions now better positioned to engage in native ETH staking, Pectra could be the greatest boon for the network since 2022’s The Merge.

Smart wallets take center stage  

One of the standout achievements of Pectra so far is the notable surge in smart wallet activity.

Driven by EIP-7702, which allows Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) to temporarily delegate control to smart contracts, the rise has seen no fewer than 11,000 smart wallet authorizations recorded.

EIP-7702 has been wholeheartedly embraced by dApps and wallets, with benefits flowing to end users; post-Pectra, EOA wallets are able to authorize smart contracts to act in their stead, obviating the need to migrate to a new smart contract-based wallet and enabling features like transaction batching, gas sponsorship, and privilege de-escalation.

EOAs are just the tip of the iceberg. On the scalability front, blob fees have dropped to near-zero, slashing costs for rollup operations, while  EIP-7691 has seen blob capacity double – enhancing app scalability.

Pectra’s impact is being felt across the board.

Needless to say, market optimism has been fueled as a result, with ETH’s market cap soaring by 42% by May 12, reflecting renewed investor confidence.

The ETH futures market has seen a similar uptick, with open interest rising from $21.3 billion to $30.4 billion between May 8 and May 11, indicating heightened market activity and interest from traders. 

Staking infrastructure steps up  

Staking infrastructure provider P2P.org was among the first to fully support Pectra’s major features – including validator consolidation, auto-compounding, partial withdrawals, and operator switching – through a live, production-ready staking dApp and API.

Indeed, these key features were made operational within a week of the upgrade. 

In addition, the provider has launched a live calculator to help users compare their current staking setup with a consolidated one, empowering them to optimize their validator sets immediately and capitalize on Pectra’s many benefits.

Artemiy Parshakov, vice president of institutions at P2P.org, has called Pectra “a major unlock for institutional staking, especially with account abstraction paving the way for smarter, automated strategies.”

Notably, Pectra raises the staking limit from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH, giving rise to the prospect of boosted rewards and streamlined validator management.

Ethereum’s steady evolution  

The tangible improvements bundled up in the Pectra upgrade have been welcomed by users, developers, and institutions alike, and the increased inflows into staking protocols tell only part of the story.

While these advancements have generated the lion’s share of coverage, the impact of Pectra is multifaceted, encompassing scalability, ease of use, and convenience. 

As Ethereum continues its methodical evolution, Pectra sets a strong foundation for future innovations, proving that slow and steady indeed wins the race in building lasting blockchain infrastructure.

The cryptocurrency market continues to grapple with volatility, and XRP has been no exception. After a promising start to the year, the price of XRP has mirrored the broader market slump triggered by Bitcoin’s correction. However, amidst the bearish sentiment, a different story is unfolding underwater – one involving deep-pocketed investors, or “whales,” accumulating the altcoin at a significant clip.

XRP Whales Accumulate Millions Despite Price Drop

While the price of XRP has dipped considerably from its highs in March, whale addresses have been quietly going on a buying spree. According to data from market intelligence platform Santiment, analyzed by market researcher Ali Martinez, addresses holding between 10 million and 100 million XRP have been steadily adding to their holdings since early April.

This buying frenzy intensified after XRP’s sharp price drop in mid-April, with whales capitalizing on the lower prices in a classic “buy-the-dip” strategy.

$XRP dropped from $0.62 to $0.41, and #crypto whales took notice. They’ve bought over 31 million #XRP in just the past week! pic.twitter.com/3FCA3PR3hi

— Ali (@ali_charts) April 23, 2024

The data reveals that these whales have scooped up a staggering 30 million XRP tokens in the past week alone, bringing their cumulative holdings to a hefty 6.75 billion units. This buying spree indicates a potential shift in sentiment among these large investors, who seem unfazed by the short-term price fluctuations and might be betting on XRP’s long-term prospects.

Deeper Dive: Whale Activity Hints At Bullish Sentiment

Taking a deeper dive, latest data suggests that this accumulation trend began even earlier, on April 5th. Interestingly, this coincides with the tail end of a selling period by these same whales, where they offloaded some of their holdings.

However, since April 5th, the buying spree has been relentless, with whales amassing over 600 million XRP in just two weeks. This significant accumulation suggests a renewed confidence in XRP, potentially signaling a bullish outlook from these key market players.

Total crypto market cap currently at $2.391 trillion. Chart: TradingView

Further bolstering this notion is the recent surge in the number of addresses holding at least 1 million XRP. These “mid-tier whales” have been steadily increasing, with their ranks reaching a near-record high of 2,013 on Tuesday. This broader participation from various tiers of large investors adds weight to the idea that XRP might be undervalued at its current price point.

The price of #XRP has jumped ahead of the #altcoin pack, jumping +6% and as high as $0.5687 today. The amount of wallets, 2,013, holding at least 1M $XRP has been surging over the past six weeks (rising 3.1%), and is within 1 wallet of the #AllTimeHigh. https://t.co/2ZfC9v79x9 pic.twitter.com/rqKgcOYJJx

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) April 22, 2024

XRP Outperforms Other Altcoins

Meanwhile, Santiment disclosed that XRP is outpacing the other altcoins in terms of wallet size. Wallets holding 1 million or more coins have increased, with a 3% gain over the last six weeks. The increase of significant XRP holdings indicates that investors’ interest and confidence are rising.

While whale activity can be a significant indicator of sentiment, it shouldn’t be the sole factor driving investment decisions. However, the recent buying spree by XRP whales is a noteworthy development, suggesting a potential shift in sentiment and a possible turning point for the coin’s price.

Featured image from Pixabay, chart from TradingView

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Crypto News: US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank’s goal of containing the inflation at 2 per cent target has a long way to go. He spoke at a post Fed meeting press conference to deliver his remarks on the state of the US economy and the forecast for upcoming months. Powell began his speech saying the full effects of the ongoing monetary policy tightening are yet to be seen in the economy.

Also Read: US Fed Hikes Interest Rate By 25 Bps; Bitcoin Price Surges

The central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on Wednesday delivered a 25 bps rate hike decision, much to the expectation of the financial markets. Thanks to the market wide anticipation of the rate hike this time around, stock indices S&P 500 and Nasdaq, as well as the Bitcoin price showed little volatility after the decision was delivered on Wednesday.

Powell: Rate Hike Possible In September

More importantly, Powell said the Fed had not made a decision about any future FOMC meetings, when asked about plans on further rate hikes. “The intermeeting data came in broadly in line with expectations,” he added. He warned that there is a possibility that incoming economic data could force the Fed to raise interest rate again in the September 2023 meeting.

Stating that the Fed would be careful about considering the inflation reading alone when deciding on the rates, the Fed Chair explained that the FOMC would prefer to look at the totality of data with a particular focus on inflation.

Inflation Remains Elevated: FOMC

Earlier, the FOMC stated that the US economic activity has been expanding at a moderate pace in recent times. It said the job gains have been robust and unemployment rate remained low while inflation remains elevated. The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run, it said. Accordingly, the committee decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 525 to 550 bps, while remaining highly attentive to inflation risks.

Also Read: Terra Luna Classic To Burn 800 Million Tokens, LUNC And USTC To $1?

Anvesh reports major crypto updates around regulation, lawsuits and trading trends. Published around 1,000 articles and counting on crypto and web 3.0. He is currently based in Hyderabad, India. Reach out to him at anvesh@coingape.com or twitter.com/BitcoinReddy

The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.