Ethereum Scaling Altcoin Rips to Fresh All-Time High Amid New Protocol Upgrade Proposal

A red-hot Ethereum (ETH) scaling solution printed a fresh all-time high on Thursday after a new protocol upgrade proposal. Optimism (OP) reached a peak of $3.10 on Thursday, the token's new all-time high (ATH). OP has since retraced to $2.

Timeline of Ethereum

According to Wu Blockchain: "The burning amount of Ethereum reached 3040 on February 2, reaching a new high since November 10 last year. The main burning sources are Uniswap and OpenSea.

Ethereum (ETH) is noticeably on the rise along with the overall increase in performance of most crypto assets. Though general crypto market sentiment continues to be the key driver of Ethereum price growth, network activity has boosted confidence among all Ethereum investors.

With a price increase of over 40%, Ethereum [ETH] had a successful January. Although short-term investors can consider this a success, would it be advantageous to hold the asset for the foreseeable future?

The Ethereum [ETH] network has come one step closer to the Shanghai hardfork with the launch of a testnet. The testnet, titled Zhejiang, will reportedly serve as a precursor to the eventual launch.

The world's second-largest cryptocurrency Ethereum (ETH) has been participating in the broader market rally gaining more than 40% over the last month. On Wednesday, February 1, the ETH price jumped by another 7% and is currently trading at $1675 with a market cap of $204 billion.

According to data from Ultrasound Money, in January, Ethereum's [ETH] supply decreased by 10,145.72 units, resulting in a net deflationary value of approximately $16 million. As of this writing, the current total supply of ETH stood at 120,515,752, with an annual growth rate of -0.012%.

Despite some resurgence in NFT prices and transactions, the ecosystem might still be plagued with some downsides. Bloomberg, in its 31 January update, reported that the DeFiance Digital Revolution EFT, also known as ticketNFTZ, was shutting down.

Ethereum price analysis shows a downtrend that has been in effect since the beginning of today. The ETH/USD pair has decreased by more than 1.22% over the past 24 hours, crashing down to as low as $1,573.

The amount of ETH staked on Ethereum's largest liquid-staking protocol, Lido Finance, has just reached $5 million, according to on-chain's analytics platform, IntoTheBlock. Following the Ethereum Merge, the popularity of liquid staking protocols such as Lido Finance has increased.

Key Points: Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, recently released a proposal titled “Can oracles double as co-stakers? How RAI-like systems might safely support staked ETH”.