Cryptocurrency market experienced severe volatility today, but Ethereum rebounded strongly and reached a new high this year. Layer 2 tokens also showed strong upward momentum, with OP and STRK both rising instead of falling. With the upcoming Ethereum upgrade to Constantinople, Layer 2 may become the next market hotspot.
Bitcoin surged to a new all-time high of $69,080 last night, but quickly fell to $59,000. This led to a simultaneous decline in most cryptocurrencies, with over $1.18 billion worth of cryptocurrencies liquidated in a single day, resulting in over 315,000 people being liquidated.
However, the overall market started to rebound this morning, and Ethereum showed even stronger performance, forming a V-shaped reversal and reaching $3,868, a new high this year.
Some Ethereum Layer 2-related tokens also showed impressive performance today. STRK, which had been declining steadily since its listing on February 20, suddenly surged yesterday, rising from $1.78 to $2.468, reaching a new high after its listing with a maximum increase of 39%. Although it briefly declined today due to the Bitcoin crash, it later rose again.
OP also performed strongly, despite being impacted by the Bitcoin crash and temporarily falling to $3.68, it surged over 30% in a single day today, reaching a new all-time high of $4.865.
Will the Constantinople upgrade boost the rise of Layer 2 tokens? The Ethereum Constantinople upgrade (Dencun) will officially activate on the mainnet at 21:55 on March 13, 2024, Taiwanese time. The market believes that this could be a driving force behind the rise of Ethereum and Layer 2 tokens.
The core of the Constantinople upgrade is EIP-4844, also known as “proto-danksharding,” which is the first step in Ethereum’s scalability. It introduces a new transaction type (blob-carrying transactions) and expands the blockchain by providing more space for the data “blob.” EIP-4844 enables temporary storage and search of off-chain data by Ethereum nodes, thereby reducing transaction fees on Layer 2 networks.
As the Constantinople upgrade approaches, data from L2BEAT shows that the total value locked (TVL) in Ethereum Layer 2 has reached $36.74 billion, continuously hitting new highs with a 7-day increase of 14.8%.
Among them, the top five Layer 2 networks by TVL are:
1. Arbitrum One: $15.3 billion, 7-day increase of 12.73%
2. OP Mainnet: $9 billion, 7-day increase of 20.09%
3. Blast: $2.68 billion, 7-day increase of 29.51%
4. Manta Pacific: $2.08 billion, 7-day increase of 9.6%
5. Starknet: $1.63 billion, 7-day increase of 22.16%.
Related reports:
– Ethereum spot ETF may not pass! SEC delays BlackRock and Fidelity applications, seeks opinions on PoS concerns.
– Forbes: Is Bitcoin’s surge a blessing or a trap for Ethereum spot ETF?
– a16z invests £100 million in EigenLayer! TVL becomes the fourth largest, closely following AAVE, the Ethereum re-staking protocol.