The price of Ethereum (ETH) is rallying and at a nine-month high ahead of a major network upgrade that some cryptocurrency advocates say will make the digital currency more profitable.
The world’s second biggest cryptocurrency has risen nearly 10% in the last week to trade at nearly $1,900 U.S. per token.
The move higher comes ahead of an upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain on April 12 called “Shapella” that will allow owners to withdraw their assets quicker and more easily.
Up to this point, investors would have to use centralized exchanges such as Coinbase (COIN) or decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols such as Lido to access their Ethereum.
The coming upgrade will unlock more of Ethereum’s value, giving holders more control over their assets, say advocates.
Having the ability to deposit and withdraw Ethereum tokens on their own might encourage more investors to buy the cryptocurrency, with some analysts saying they expect an influx of capital once the Shapella upgrade is completed.
This is Ethereum’s second major upgrade in less than a year. Last September, the cryptocurrency underwent a transition to a more energy-efficient proof-of-stake protocol.
After last September’s “Merge” upgrade, Ethereum traded crypto miners for validators. Instead of running large banks of computers, validators now leverage their existing cache of Ethereum to verify transactions and mint new tokens.
The upgrade to a proof-of-stake operating model makes Ethereum the most energy efficient cryptocurrency, say analysts.
Ethereum is now up nearly 60% this year versus Bitcoin’s (BTC) gain of 70%.
