Positive momentum is building up for the upcoming upgrade to Ethereum, a decentralized blockchain with smart contract functionality, a survey by OKX, a Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange, has found.

The two-part Shanghai-Capella event, which has been dubbed the ‘Shapella’ upgrade, is now scheduled for April 12. The upgrade is expected to enable users on Ethereum to withdraw their staked ether (ETH), the native cryptocurrency of the platform.

The upgrade comes eight months after the Ethereum Merge, a hard fork of the blockchain that saw the platform’s consensus mechanism switch from the proof-of-work to proof-of-stake (PoS) system. However, investors have been participating in ETH staking on Beacon Chain, a PoS blockchain launched on Ethereum in December 2020 and was later merged with the Ethereum Mainnet in September last year.

The expected Shapella upgrade, initially scheduled for last month, means that investors will be able to finally withdraw their staked ETH. And OKX’s survey found that a majority (83%) of the Ethereum community expects that more ETH will be staked in the next three months, suggesting positive perception of the development.

? Hot off the press ?

Latest #OKX survey finds out 83% of the community expects more ETH staking around #Shapella upgrade ?

More insights for #Ethereum enthusiasts here: https://t.co/sRV8op1VHA pic.twitter.com/kZwt8g6Jn1

— OKX (@okx) April 7, 2023

$5K+ for ETH by End of 2023?

According to OKX, its findings are based on a survey of 700 ETH traders, investors and network developers between March 1-5, 2023, at the ETH Denver Conference.

CoinMarketCap’s latest data shows that the price of ETH as of April 7, 2023, stood at over $1,800, rising from about $1820 seven days ago. However, the majority (63%) of respondents in OKX’s survey expects ETH to peak at over USD$5,000 by year-end.

Price movement of ETHER over the past seven days. Source: CoinMarketCap

Furthermore, another majority (79%) expects the price of ETH to react differently to the Shapella upgrade than it did to the Merge. Of this majority, 59% believe the price of ETH will keep increasing before and after the upgrade. On the other hand, under a quarter (20%) of them expects ETH price to move sideways.

“Thirty-three percent of respondents think ETH will be over its current six-month high of USD2,000 in June 2023, but still below its 12-month high of USD3,000. [Another] 34% of those surveyed predict ETH at below $2,000, while 33% believe it will be at least $3,100 by June 2023,” OKX explained.

#ETH Continues to Rise Ahead of Upcoming #Shapella Upgrade, Approaching $2K Zone — Daily Price Update 4.5.23 pic.twitter.com/tpkKnuahw4

— Bitcoin News (@BTCTN) April 5, 2023

Crypto Actors Prepare for ‘Shapella’ Opportunities

According to OKX, which says it is the biggest second global cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, a total of 17.9 million has been staked on Ethereum as of April 5. This amounts to over USD$34 billion in ETH.

Already, digital assets companies have been making preparing for the opportunities that the Shapella upgrade could avail. Late last month, cryptocurrency exchange Bybit launched its new “optimized” Web3 Staking Pool to give its users access to its “uncomplicated ETH staking options.”

Additionally, ConsenSys, an Ethereum and decentralized protocols software company, launched the first marketplace for institutional cryptocurrency staking. The software firm believes that the Shapella upgrade can help boost institutional participation in ETH stalking.

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