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ETH hit an 8-month high above $2,000 after the network successfully executed its Shapella upgrade. Crypto markets continued to rally after softening US economic data boosted investors’ hopes for a Fed pause. Meanwhile, Vitalik is looking ahead to Ethereum’s next hard fork, which promises a 10x improvement in scalability. And finally, we have an exclusive report from IOSG Ventures analyzing Ethereum’s liquid staking market.

✍️ In today’s newsletter:

• ETH trades above $2,000 for the first time since August 2022
• Vitalik says scalability is the next priority for Ethereum
• Research: Could Lido dominate liquid staking long-term?

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📈 Markets in last 24 hrs:

Markets

Ether Surges Past $2,000 After Successful Upgrade

TLDR Ether broke above $2,000 following the successful execution of the Shapella upgrade, while Bitcoin surpassed $30,000 for the first time since June. LDO and RPL, governance tokens of major liquid staking providers, dropped in the week leading up to Shapella but bounced back in the past 24 hours.

SO WHAT On the macroeconomic front, markets caught a tailwind after the U.S. Department of Labor reported initial jobless claims at their highest levels since January 2022. The CPI also came out at 5%, down from its peak of 9.1% in June 2022. The Fed released the minutes from its March meeting, predicting a mild recession later this year, and investors are hoping rising unemployment and cooling inflation will lead to a more accommodative stance from the central bank.

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Ethereum

Vitalik Says Ethereum Will Focus On Scalability Post-Shapella

TLDR Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin has highlighted the importance of scalability and confirmed that the network’s next hard fork in 2024 will include EIP-4844, or proto-danksharding, which could deliver a 10x improvement in scalability. Buterin praised the progress made by Ethereum’s Layer 2 teams and believes that the network will enter a period of relative stability once its scalability roadmap is complete.

SO WHAT Ethereum’s focus on scalability is a critical step for the network to handle increasing user demand and prevent high transaction fees during a surge in activity. The network’s continued development towards sharding could significantly improve the user experience and attract more users to the platform.

Research

Post-Shanghai Upgrade: Could Lido Dominate Liquid Staking Long-Term?

TLDR Lido is the current market leader in Ethereum staking with a 30% market share, but faces potential challenges to its dominance. The Shanghai upgrade could lessen Lido’s defensibility layer as the most liquid staked ETH token. Competitors are also maturing and becoming viable alternatives for stakers that value decentralization.

SO WHAT The competition between centralized and non-custodial entities in the ETH staking market has implications for Ethereum’s decentralized ethos. The future of Ethereum staking and its impact on the broader crypto ecosystem will depend on whether decentralized or centralized players ultimately come to dominate the market.

🔎 FROM OUR REPORTERS

Here’s what Aleks is watching this week👀

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• Twitter partners with eToro to let users trade stocks, crypto (CNBC)
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• Source: https://thedefiant.io/defi-daily-eth-rallies-2k/