Ethereum staking just hit a wild inflection point – a record 877,106 ETH ($3.88B) is sitting in the exit line, creating a 15-day wait for unstaking. That’s the longest queue since the Shanghai upgrade.
- Validator metrics: Over 1.08M active validators are now live, with 29.5% of ETH supply staked (~35.3M ETH).
- Top platforms leading exits: Lido (285k ETH), EthFi (134k), and Coinbase (113k).
Why the rush to unstake?
DeFi analyst Ignas points to three forces:
- Profit-taking after ETH’s run toward $4.8k.
- Treasury + ETF absorption – ETH reserves and ETFs have doubled since May 1 (up 140% to 10M ETH), which is soaking up sell pressure.
- Future ETH staking ETFs – some whales may be unlocking liquidity now to rotate into staking ETFs once approved (potentially October 2025, well before the April 2026 deadline).
Market setup
- ETH dipped with inflation worries (hot US PPI print), now hovering around $4,500.
- Key downside levels: $4,370-$4,160 zone, then $4,100-$3,900 “golden pocket” (0.5-0.618 Fib).
- Upside: clearing $5k could trigger a $5,000-$5,200 liquidation cluster, but failure to hold $4,200 risks deeper drawdowns.
Big picture
The massive unstake queue looks bearish on the surface, but ETF inflows and treasury hoarding are acting like a sponge. If those flows keep up, ETH may just turn this liquidity reshuffle into rocket fuel for the next leg higher.
