Ethereum reaches an all-time high with 30% of the total supply staked, amounting to 36.2 million ETH worth approximately 115 billion dollars now locked in validators, as institutional demand surges and the entry queue swells to 2.7 million tokens waiting to be staked.
What happened: a record staking ratio
Token Terminal reported on Monday that the Ethereum staking ratio has surpassed 30% for the first time. The entry queue of validators has reached its highest level since 2023, while the exit queue has fallen almost to zero, according to Validator Queue data.
A large portion of the Ether in the queue comes from institutions, including digital asset treasuries like BitMine and exchange-traded funds now offering staking rewards.
"The supply of ETH is becoming intentionally harder to access," commented Milk Road on Monday. "Staking just reached an all-time high, with millions of ETH now queued to be locked up," the macroeconomic media noted, adding that tokens "are being withdrawn from exchanges and taken out of active circulation."
Ethereum's official account stated on Monday that "Ethereum is the number 1 choice of global financial institutions," citing a list of 35 examples of institutional adoption shared by Tom Lee of Fundstrat.
Also read: Cardano Founder Accuses Ripple CEO Of Surrendering To SEC In Regulatory Fight
Why it matters: trust with reservations
Nic Puckrin, CEO and co-founder of Coin Bureau, called this milestone an "immense vote of confidence for Ethereum," while warning that staking measures coins, not conviction.
A whale staking a million ETH looks like a million believers staking one each, but it represents very different market dynamics, he explained.
"So, when you see '30% of ETH is staked,' the real question is not whether it’s bullish," Puckrin added. "It’s: who staked it, what is their true liquidity, and how quickly can they change their mind?"
Ether spot markets have cooled since the weekend, with the asset losing an additional 1% Tuesday morning in Asia to drop below $3,200. Prices have retreated 5% since Saturday, as markets remain shaken by the latest escalation of Donald Trump's global trade war.
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