Ethereum staking has climbed to unprecedented levels, with a growing amount of ETH locked on the Beacon Chain and additional tokens waiting to be staked.
Macro research outlet Milk Road noted on Monday that ETH is becoming “deliberately harder to access.” They explained that staking has hit an all-time high, with millions of Ether queued to be locked up effectively removing it from exchanges and reducing the circulating supply. According to Milk Road, this trend is a constructive long-term signal for potential price growth.
These remarks followed a Token Terminal update showing that Ethereum’s staking ratio has exceeded 30% for the first time in history.
Staking Queue Hits New Highs
A record 36.2 million ETH valued at roughly $115 billion is now staked, accounting for about 30% of Ethereum’s total supply. These locked tokens are currently generating around 2.8% in annual staking rewards, based on data from Ultrasound Money.
Staking conditions appear particularly strong. The validator entry queue has reached its highest level since 2023, with approximately 2.7 million ETH waiting to be staked. At the same time, the exit queue has nearly disappeared, indicating that very few participants are withdrawing their staked ETH, according to Validator Queue data.
Much of the ETH waiting to be staked is reportedly coming from institutional players, including digital asset treasury firms such as BitMine and exchange-traded funds that now support staking rewards.
The official Ethereum account on X echoed this sentiment, stating that Ethereum remains the top platform for global financial institutions. It added that institutional adoption has accelerated in recent months, highlighting 35 examples of firms building on Ethereum shared by Fundstrat’s Tom Lee.
Coin Bureau CEO and co-founder Nic Puckrin described the surge as a “major vote of confidence” in Ethereum, while also urging caution. He pointed out that staking data reflects the number of coins, not the number of participants. A single whale staking one million ETH can appear identical to one million individuals staking one ETH each, despite vastly different implications for market behavior.
“When you hear that 30% of ETH is staked, the key question isn’t just whether that’s bullish,” Puckrin said. “It’s who is staking, how liquid that ETH truly is, and how quickly those stakers could change course.”
ETH Price Loses Steam
Despite the positive staking trends, Ether’s spot price has softened slightly. ETH slipped about 1% on Tuesday during Asian trading hours, falling below $3,200.
Overall, Ether is down roughly 5% since the weekend, as broader markets remain unsettled by the latest escalation in Donald Trump’s global trade war.
