ETH 2.0 staking is about to hit six million ethereum, with 179,709 validators currently.

The ethereum launchpad currently has 5.91 million in ETH being staked. The amount equates to nearly 180,000 validators on the network. 

The recent number is a huge jump from six months ago. The current value of staked ETH now totals $12.7 billion. The amount is a big jump for late December. December saw a total of 1.6% of the ethereum supply being staked, or $1.1 billion. Currently, there is roughly 5% of the supply being staked. 

Gas fees plunge 

The increase in ETH staked, comes following a dramatic decline in gas fees on the ethereum network. One of the key issues the blockchain currently has experienced in the recent bull market. The price of an average transaction on the ethereum blockchain hit $0.15 earlier this week. The decline in gas fees saw a new yearly low in transaction prices on the network  

London hard fork in the works 

Currently, the London hard fork is live on the Ropsten testnet. The launch is expected to occur next month once testing is complete. The EIP-1559 upgrade is not necessarily focused on reducing gas fees, but will prevent users from overpaying for gas less frequently. 

Recently, several crypto pundits offered their opinion on ETH 2.0. CEO of IDEX, Alex Wearn believes that ETH 2.0 could increase adoption, but also poses centralization risks. Lower costs will see adoption spread. However, he also mentioned that proof-of-stake- consensus will allow governance to be held and run by ethereum whales. 

ETH has seen a strong bounce following its recent decline from the yearly all-time high. ETH hit $4,300 before sliding down to $1,700. It is currently priced at $2,150 following this week’s small rally across the market.