How Ethereum staking hit a record 36.3% despite ETH’s price drop
More than one-third of Ethereum's circulating supply is now staked.
Ethereum’s [ETH] staking ratio has reportedly reached an all-time high (ATH) of 36.3%, accounting for more than one-third of ETH’s total circulating supply. Well, the rising staking ratio suggests that an increasing number of ETH holders are choosing to lock up their tokens rather than sell or actively trade them.
This comes as Ethereum’s validator queues show that at press time, 911,938 ETH was waiting to be staked with a 16-day, 7-hour wait. Meanwhile, 264,211 ETH was queued to exit with a 5-day, 16-hour wait, plus a 7-day sweep delay.
Both queues are limited by the same churn rate of 256 per epoch, meaning only a fixed amount of ETH can join or leave each epoch, which is why a big backlog translates into longer waits.
In other words, more people want to stake than unstake right now, but the entry line is slowly shrinking, and exiting takes roughly 12-13 days in total once the sweep delay is included.
Total staked ETH so far
This comes as the total ETH staked rose from about 42.1 million ETH (roughly 34.5% of supply) in mid-August to about 44.5 million ETH (around 36.5%) at press time. Since late October the climb has resumed steadily.
Of this, BitMine earned $121.4 million from staking and validation activities, accounting for approximately 97% of its total revenue. By the 8th of November, the largest Ethereum DAT held 6.07 million ETH, of which 5.22 million ETH was staked.
That said, the company also estimates that these holdings could generate around $309 million in annual staking rewards, based on an estimated 2.65% yield and an ETH price of $2,234.
On the other hand, SharpLink has accumulated 31,363 ETH in staking rewards as of 9th November. Its strategy also includes liquid staking through Lido, allowing it to receive wstETH in return for its deposited ETH.
Active validators tell a different story
All of this happened while the active validators moved in the opposite direction. As per charts, they held near 900K through mid-September, peaking around 912K. But again, they dropped sharply from mid-September to mid-October, falling to about 815K, and have since drifted down to roughly 807K, with a small additional drop on the last day or two.
However, the price action of ETH trading at $2,042.94 at press time after a modest drop in the past 24 hours but a 15.5% drop in the past week sparks concern. This comes as Ethereum faces renewed selling pressure after losing its $2,250 support level. However, Vitalik Buterin’s recent push to position ETH as a store of value suggests hope.
Final Summary
- 911,938 ETH was waiting to be staked while 264,211 ETH was queued to exit.
- Total ETH staked rose from about 42.1 million ETH in mid-August to about 44.5 million ETH.
