Ethereum’s largest contract holds $33.5 billion in ETH

Ethereum’s price has grown significantly over the past 12 months, even allowing it to hit new all-time highs several times. This led to the largest ETH contract containing around $33.5 billion in Ethereum (ETH/USD), or approximately 8,642,000 coins. However, the problem is that this money is forced to sit idle because it cannot be spent or sent to any address.

The situation regarding the contract was first noticed by a Twitter user @TomerStrolight, who pointed out that nearly $33 million is trapped in the Beacon chain contract. The contract, as many likely remember, was launched a little over a year ago, in November 2020. Unfortunately, however, the funds stored within cannot be spent unless a hard fork takes place.

The real twist, however, comes from the fact that the terms of the hard fork were never fully decided. This can only happen after the Beacon chain merges with the project’s Mainnet. Despite this, people simply kept sending their ETH into the contract, even while being fully aware of that fact.

How did the contract gain so much wealth?

The Beacon chain managed to collect as much money as it did because it was the very first step in Ethereum’s transition from PoW towards PoS. One had to stake at least 32 ETH in order to be a validator in Ethereum 2.0, and so $33.5 billion in ETH piled up fairly quickly, signaling that there is high demand. More than that, it showed that people trust Ethereum, and that they believe in the upcoming ETH 2.0.

While it did take more than a year, the project’s developers finally called upon the community members to test the merger to PoS-based Ethereum 2.0, and the testing phase was divided in three phases. One phase is for non-technical uses, the next one for those with limited experience, and the last one for highly technical experts.

The post Ethereum’s largest contract holds $33.5 billion in ETH appeared first on .