Ethereum Upgrade Expectations Fuel Liquid Staking Token Growth Tokens representing staked ETH are outgaining most digital assets on the day — and on a year-to-date basis Governance tokens of liquid staking derivatives continue to outpace other digital assets as anticipation for Ethereum’s upcoming Shanghai upgrade grows. Shanghai, expected to launch sometime next month, is set to allow validators to withdraw staked ether from the Beacon Chain — some of which has been locked up for over three years. Associated protocols and assets representing staked ETH are outgunning most other digital assets on the day, as well as on a year-to-date basis. Liquid staking solution Lido DAO (LDO) clinched a near 9% gain as of 7 pm ET. Frax Share (FXS) — the governance token of the Frax ecosystem behind frxETH — and staking pool Rocket Pool (RPL) were up 20% and 6%, respectively. In year-to-date terms, LDO, FXS and RPL are up between 100% and 190%. Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) were down roughly 1% on the day and are each up roughly 35% so far in 2023. As a result of the upgrade, tokens representing staked ETH will have the ability to achieve better price parity with ETH, making people more likely to trust them and hold on to them, according to Blockworks Research analyst Ryan West. “We’ve seen the supply of [liquid staking derivatives] already grow 5% since the start of 2023, with some versions growing more than others, such as frxETH growing 74% and rETH (Rocketpool) growing 10%,” he said. Full Article: <a rel="noreferrer nofollow noopener" href="https://blockworks.co/news/liquid-staking-token-growth" target="_blank">https://blockworks.co/news/liquid-staking-token-growth</a>