Ethereum ($ETH) staking yields could double after the network merges with the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) Beacon Chain that is currently running alongside Ethereum’s mainnet, according to estimates from leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase
In a message sent to clients and shared on social media, Coinbase noted that after the Ethereum’s mainnet merges with the Beacon Chain – a move that it says is “expected around June of this year” – ETH staking yields could rise as “rewards will incorporate net transaction (ex-base) fees currently paid to miners.”
Coinbase estimates that current ETH staking yields between 4-5% should go upwards of 9-12%.
The Beacon Chain is a Proof-of-Stake blockchain currently running alongside the original Ethereum Proof-of-Work network. Staking 32 ETH on the network allows users to effectively become validators on it and earn returns on their funds for helping secure the network. Funds on the Beacon Chain are locked until the launch of Ethereum 2.0.
The Ethereum network merges will come once the Ethereum mainnet merges with the Beacon Chain in a move that will “mark the end of proof-of-work for Ethereum, and the full transition to proof-of-stake.” The merge is “planned to precede the roll out of shard chains.”
As CryptoGlobe reported, a dormant Ethereum whale moved its funds for the first time since 2015, with the transaction sending the funds to an unknown wallet then split the funds into several other wallets, before moving to stake them ahead of the upcoming launch of Ethereum 2.0.
The Ethereum whale had been sitting on 1,947 ETH since the year the second-largest cryptocurrency network was launched, 2015. At the time the 1,947 ETH was worth around $2,336, while the funds could now change hands for $5.16 million – a whopping 220,000% change.
Ethereum has been slowly moving to become a deflationary asset. Over $4.6 billion of the cryptocurrency have been burned since the implementation of Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559 via the London hard fork on August 5.
The London hard fork included the implementation of Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559, which changed the way transaction fees on the network work. Instead of an auction system, users now pay a base fee for their transaction to be processed by miners, and can alternatively tip miners to get their transactions to be processed faster.
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