At current rates, the landmark figure represents a value of almost $26 billion for the asset.

Over 10 million ether (ETH) has been held on Ethereum's Eth 2.0 staking contract ahead of a planned upgrade to a proof-of-stake network, according to data from analytics platform Dune Analytics.

• After a unanimous decision in November 2020, Eth 2.0 staking went live, and the milestone amount was attained approximately 15 months later.
• The Ethereum network's multi-stage transition to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, which validates transactions using nodes maintained by "stakers," is referred to as Eth 2.0. This is in contrast to the present proof-of-work system, which relies on centralised organisations known as "miners" to validate network transactions.
• During periods of congestion, the existing design has resulted in a slow and expensive network, with rates reaching absurd levels of $250 and higher.
• After a rocky start, the Eth 2.0 deposit contract required 524,000 ether to launch, but it was oversubscribed by over 400 percent in the days leading up to the launch.
• The data shows that 67,040 different depositors contributed to the staking contract. Staking Rewards data shows that while the donated ether is locked and inaccessible, stakers are earning 4.81 percent in annual dividends.
• After a rather quiet period in January and February of this year, ether deposits to the Eth 2.0 contracts spiked this month, according to charts.

• Before being rolled out, Eth 2.0 is now in the 'Kintsugi' testnet stage. Testnets run on top of the underlying blockchain, or mainnet, and simulate its activities without altering it. They enable developers and the general public to test applications and features in a safe environment.
• While the larger crypto market stayed steady, Ether saw nominal gains of 2.9 percent in the last 24 hours. According to CoinGecko, the cryptocurrency was trading at $2,620 at the time of writing.