Ethereum staking has reached a record 41.7 million $ETH, locking more than one-third of the cryptocurrency’s circulating supply despite a sharp decline in its market price.
Ethereum staking climbs despite price decline
A CryptoQuant chart shared by cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex on Aug. 10 showed that the amount of Ethereum ($ETH) committed to staking had reached an all-time high of 41.7 million $ETH.
Staked $ETH has climbed to a record 41.7 million, a third of all $ETH in existence, while price fell from $3,400 in January to $1,900.
As the amount staked grows, the rewards do not run out, which is why the pile keeps growing. pic.twitter.com/m5AU9GQ4eB
— Bitfinex (@bitfinex) August 10, 2026
The figure represents roughly one-third of Ethereum’s circulating supply. CoinMarketCap data places the asset’s supply near 120.7 million $ETH, meaning approximately 34.5% is now staked.
“Staked $ETH has climbed to a record 41.7 million, a third of all $ETH in existence, while price fell from $3,400 in January to $1,900,” Bitfinex wrote.
The chart shows that staking deposits remained near 36 million $ETH through late 2025 before beginning a sustained increase in February. Growth continued through the second quarter and accelerated again between June and August.
The increase comes despite $ETH losing about 44% of its value from its January level. Ethereum traded near $1,900 when Bitfinex published the chart, showing that validators and long-term holders continued locking tokens even as spot-market conditions weakened.
crypto.news reported in January that 36.2 million $ETH, or nearly 30% of the supply, had been staked. The latest figure represents an increase of approximately 5.5 million $ETH in less than seven months.
Reinvested rewards keep staked $ETH growing
Ethereum validators receive newly issued $ETH for proposing blocks, attesting to transactions, and supporting network consensus. They may also collect priority fees and maximal extractable value.
Part of that income can be returned to staking, creating a compounding effect even when $ETH’s dollar price falls. However, returns decline as more validators join because Ethereum distributes issuance across a larger staked balance.
Corporate treasury companies have become a major part of this trend. BitMine had approximately 4.9 million $ETH staked as of July 12, equal to about 85% of its Ethereum holdings.
The company generated $45.7 million from staking and validation during the quarter ended May 31. Chairman Tom Lee projected that annual rewards could reach $284 million if BitMine stakes its entire $ETH treasury, although returns depend on yields and validator conditions.
SharpLink has also committed most of its Ethereum treasury to staking. Its strategy continued generating $ETH rewards even as lower market prices contributed to a $394.3 million second-quarter loss.
Record staking renews Ethereum issuance debate
The continued increase has renewed questions about how much $ETH should be committed to network security and whether Ethereum’s reward curve encourages excessive staking.
EIP-8363, known as Tapered Issuance Burn, would burn a growing share of consensus-layer rewards as the staking ratio rises. The mechanism would remove issuance-based rewards when approximately half of Ethereum’s supply is staked.
As crypto.news previously reported, the proposal’s authors argue that the current system continues rewarding additional deposits even after they provide limited security benefits. EIP-8363 remains under review and has not been approved for an Ethereum upgrade.
SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom has opposed the plan, arguing that native yield supports Ethereum’s institutional appeal and acts as a benchmark for returns across decentralized finance.
US institutions expand access to $ETH yield
Staking has also become more accessible through regulated investment products in the United States. Grayscale distributed about $9.4 million in $ETH staking proceeds to eligible ETHE shareholders in January, marking the first such payout by a U.S.-listed Ethereum product.
Morgan Stanley has also added staking provisions to its proposed Ethereum ETF. Its filing showed that 3.64 million $ETH was waiting to enter validation as of May 18, implying an activation delay of approximately 63 days.
Continued institutional participation could remove more $ETH from liquid markets. However, staking does not guarantee price appreciation, and the divergence between record deposits and $ETH’s decline shows that supply constraints can be outweighed by broader selling pressure.
