Ethereum is gradually transforming into a decentralized financial stratum: almost a quarter of all coins in circulation are locked in smart contracts. Industry columnist and founder of ETHhub Anthony Sassano noted that the same amount of ETH was in smart contracts in mid-2016, during the collapse of the DAO.

 "There is now the same amount of ETH in smart contracts as there was during the DAO crisis (about 23% of all coins in circulation)."

 He also added that then ETH was worth $ 13, and the value of blocked coins was $ 230 million.Now 23% of ETH in circulation is $ 63 billion.

 The graph shows the takeoff recorded during 2016, with money flowing into the DAO, the first decentralized autonomous organization on the Ethereum blockchain.  The project raised $ 150 million in funding through a token sale.

 The DAO story ended sadly: hackers found vulnerabilities in the program code, hacked it and stole money.  The Ethereum blockchain went through a hard fork that helped recover the stolen funds, but split the community into two irreconcilable camps.  So from one blockchain, two appeared: Ethereum and Ethereum Classic.

 Sassano also noted that over a million ETH is stored on the Binance Smart Chain contract.

 Most of the blocked ETH is in the Beacon Chain deposit contract.  According to ETH 2.0 Launchpad, 5.42 million ETH are currently on the blockchain.

 This is about $ 13.5 billion at the current exchange rate.  About 4.65% of all ETH in circulation, or a quarter of all coins locked in smart contracts of DeFi protocols, settled on this smart contract.

 The more ETH is blocked in this contract, the lower the staking reward.  Now you can earn about 6.7% per annum on staking ETH.  The network has 165 thousand active validators.  Since the beginning of 2021, their number has grown by 250%.

 Ethereum is fundamentally strong right now.  Over the past year, the project has significantly strengthened its position, especially with respect to bitcoin.

 What will happen to the ETH rate

 At the time of publication, ETH is worth $ 2,480.  Over the course of the day, the coin has risen in price by 5.7%.  On Saturday, June 12, the ETH rate fell below $ 2,300, but on Monday morning it quickly regained its losses.

 Now the coin is 43% cheaper than the historical high.  The price found solid support near current levels.

 Author Tatiana Chepkova analyst, financial columnist.

Sincerely, Lyubov Sultanova.