It was less than a year ago when the Ethereum validator exit queue had stretched for 45 days as millions of tokens waited to be unlocked from staking.
Today, that queue has completely emptied out, while the number of $ETH actually staked continues to grow to a new record.
No One Wants to Unstake $ETH
Current data from ValidatorQueue shows that there are zero $ETH waiting to be unstaked from the network. This means that if anyone decides to unstake their altcoin holdings, they can do so immediately, subject only to the protocol’s normal withdrawal process.
This is a significant turnaround from Q3 last year, when the exit queue had swelled to roughly 2.6 million coins. Validators were forced to wait up to 45 days before they could withdraw their holdings. At the time, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin defended the extensive period, arguing that it’s an important element of the network’s defense.
The narrative has completely flipped now. ValidatorQueue shows that over 2.5 million $ETH is currently waiting to enter staking, translating into an estimated activation delay of nearly 44 days. Investors are willing to wait for a month and a half just to begin earning staking rewards on their $ETH holdings.
This shifted imbalance suggests that investors are confident in Ethereum’s long-term outlook to remain strong despite the year-to-date price retracement. It also removes one of the most significant concerns from last year – that millions of staked $ETH could suddenly flood exchanges if validators decide to cash out.
Record $ETH Is Locked
The broader staking picture has also continued improving as the total number of active validators securing the network has neared 900,000. Almost 41 million $ETH is currently staked, which is equivalent to roughly 33.6% of the entire circulating supply. This is the highest percentage in the network’s history, and it means that every one out of three $ETH is locked in staking rather than sitting on exchanges or actively circulating.
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Tom Lee’s Bitmine remains a leader in this field, having staked over 4.9 million tokens through its institutional platform MAVAN.
Although staked $ETH is not permanently removed from supply, it is generally considered less liquid because validators must go through Ethereum’s withdrawal process before they receive access to those holdings.
However, Merlijn The Trader reported a rather intriguing and unexpected twist. The record amount of staked $ETH comes even as staking rewards are down to 2.62% per year from 3.05% and issuance has increased from 0.757% to 0.842%.
