In the first week of May, Ethereum validators saw their earnings surge to $46 million in a significant increase that can largely be attributed to the uptick in the staking rewards rate. The figure represents a 40% rise from the previous week’s earnings of $33 million, when 18,3339 $ETH were distributed in rewards.
Over the past week, Ethereum network validators helping secure the network through its Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm bagged a substantial 24,997 Ether, according to available data.
This windfall was largely due to the frenzy in trading a new meme-themed digital currency named Pepe (PEPE). The burgeoning popularity of this token has elevated the average fees on the Ethereum network to surpass 100 gwei, a peak not seen since May of last year, as Cointelegraph reported.
As a consequence, end users are now shelling out over $30 per transaction swap, leading to higher fee income for validators who earn both from processing transactions and from regular validator rewards.
Validators, who partake in the network’s consensus procedure, are required to stake a minimum of 32 ETH, valued approximately at $58,000 at the time of writing. Through services such s those offered by centralized exchanges like Coinbase or Kraken, or liquid staking solutions like Lido, it’s possible to stake less than the required 32 ETH.
As CryptoGlobe reported, Ethereum staking rewards achieved an annual yield of 8.6% earlier this month in a new record that was largely attributed to a sharp rise in on-chain gas fees propelled by the ongoing memecoin trading trend.
PEPE, a hot meme coin inspired by the infamous meme and cartoon character Pepe the Frog, has seen a remarkable boom to the point it entered the top 100 digital assets by market capitalization in less than a month.
In a recent display of high-stakes speculation, three crypto whales have invested nearly $4 million in the meme-based cryptocurrency, $PEPE coin, despite the digital asset’s declining value.
Earlier, a fortunate cryptocurrency investor has seemingly managed to turn an investment of just 0.125 ETH in PEPE into a staggering $1.14 million in just a matter of days by buying into it at the right time.
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