This is somewhat higher than the minimal 32 Ether to be staked for using the verifying software and become a validating node of the network. At the time of writing, based on the prevailing ETG price, an investment of $66,560 is necessary to join the network as a validator.
Validators are “responsible for saving data, validate transactions, and add fresh blocks to the blockchain,” as per the Ethereum Foundation.
Before releasing Ethereum 2.0 in December 2020, the foundation needs a minimum of 524,288 ETH to be committed. So, in only six months, Ethereum has gained 10 times the number of validators it needed to meet the foundation’s basic network criteria set last year.
Since mid-afternoon (UTC) Monday, ETH has risen after regaining $2,000 and has remained above critical support around $2,080. Investors and traders are optimistic about Ether as they look forward to the London hard fork in July.
The 5.9 million staked Ether is valued $12.29 billion in market exchange value at the prevailing price level. This is the quantity of funds almost 180,000 validators have put on reserve in exchange for the privilege to power the blockchain. This certifies them as honest network members who have a stake in abiding by the rules and avoiding harmful software and conduct off the Ethereum blockchain.
Validators that are unable to validate, go inactive, or do not follow the network protocol potentially lose their staked Ether. Those that assist the network in adhering to the rules and achieving consensus as it handles client requests are rewarded with tokens on the blockchain.