The Ethereum Shanghai hard fork upgrade in March 2023 was designed to give Ethereum cryptocurrency network users access to their staked ether (ETH) funds for the first time since The Merge, the update that transitioned the blockchain to proof-of-stake in 2022 ¹. Ethereum core developers discussed that they aim to ship the Pectra upgrade by the first quarter of 2025, which will be the next major update for Ethereum .

The price of Ethereum (ETH) has dropped roughly 2.5%📉 to a two-week low of $2,871 ¹. The drop is due to several factors, including dwindling hopes of a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval in the United States, reduced demand for Ethereum investment products and decreased network activity ².