Summary
- The Ethereum network's validator exit queue has nearly disappeared, signaling an easing of selling pressure.
- By contrast, the new-entry queue surged to about 1.3 million ETH, indicating network participation is increasing significantly over validator exits.
- Aggressive staking demand from large treasury firms like Bitmain is contributing to the absorption of circulating Ethereum supply.
The Ethereum network's validator exit queue has effectively entered a disappearance phase, leading analysts to say that potential selling pressure in the market has greatly eased.
On the 6th (local time), Cointelegraph reported that the current size of the Ethereum validator exit queue is only about 32 ETH, and the wait time has shrunk to around 1 minute. This represents a 99.9% decrease from the peak of roughly 2.67 million ETH in mid-September last year. By contrast, the new-entry queue stands at about 1.3 million ETH, marking the highest level since mid-November last year.
The market is paying attention to the fact that the exit queue is nearly empty. Rostik Asymetrics' Chief Technology Officer (CTO) evaluated, "The current exit queue is virtually empty, and there is almost no demand to sell staked ETH." Tevis Alfareger (AlphaLedger) also said, "Exchange holdings of Ethereum are approaching their lowest level in a decade, and the validator entry queue far outpaces the exit queue. Selling pressure is gradually drying up."
The validator exit queue is a mechanism to prevent validators from leaving en masse for network stability. That this queue has approached 'zero' means large-scale unstaking demand has disappeared, and new exit requests are being processed immediately — a signal that participants' willingness to leave the network is low. This suggests more participants are choosing long-term holding while still earning rewards.
This trend is also influenced by institutional staking demand. Bitmain, one of the world's largest Ethereum treasury firms, has recently been aggressively expanding its Ethereum staking. Since Bitmain began staking on December 26 last year, it added about 82,560 ETH (about $260 million) to the entry queue on January 3 alone. The total staked amount is currently 659,219 ETH, valued at about $2.1 billion at market prices.
Bitmain currently holds about 4.1 million ETH, which corresponds to about 3.4% of Ethereum's total supply. The market assesses that large treasury firms and ETF-related staking demand are jointly continuing a phase that structurally absorbs Ethereum's circulating supply.
