Ethereum Staking Entry Queue at 1.5 Million ETH, With 25-Day Wait

About 1.5 million Ether is waiting to enter Ethereum staking, with the estimated wait time at about 25 days.

CoinDesk reported on October 5 that roughly 1.5 million ETH, worth about $4 billion, was in the staking entry queue as of that day. That was down from about 2 million ETH and an estimated 35-day wait in early September.

The queue to exit staking, meanwhile, has surged in recent days. The amount waiting for withdrawal climbed from about 166,000 ETH on September 29 to about 851,000 ETH on October 2, the highest level this year.

As of October 5, about 786,000 ETH was in the withdrawal queue, worth more than $2 billion. The estimated wait time was about 14 days.

The recent spike in the withdrawal queue appears to have been driven largely by MetaMask validator exits. After disclosing a security incident on September 30, MetaMask began removing affected validators from staking as a precaution.

Ethereum security researcher Kaden estimated that about 17,000 validators and roughly 523,000 ETH were affected by the move. MetaMask has not officially confirmed those figures.

Lido said most of the withdrawals were temporary transfers and that the ETH would likely be staked again once validator exits and asset withdrawals are completed. The full process could take as long as 45 days.