Ethereum staking reaches a major milestone as 25% of the total ETH supply, around 30 million ETH, is now staked.
On Feb. 8, Lido, a leading liquid staking platform, announced that over 30 million ETH, representing a quarter of Ethereum’s circulating supply, has been staked.
According to Dune Analytics, this milestone has been reached, positioning Lido with a 31.5% market share in staked Ethereum. The total value of staked ETH stands at approximately $73 billion, with nearly a million validators contributing to the network’s security.
In the last two weeks, there has been a noticeable uptick in staking flow deposits, indicating increased activity and interest in Ethereum staking.
Nansen, another blockchain analytics firm, confirms the 30 million ETH staked figure and notes the virtually empty unstaking queue. This suggests a strong holding sentiment, with only 176,686 ETH, less than 0.6% of the total staked, waiting to be withdrawn.
Ultrasound.Money also provides a slightly lower figure of 29.8 million ETH staked but highlights an important aspect of Ethereum’s economy. Since the Merge in September 2022, Ethereum’s supply has contracted by 344,960 ETH, translating to a deflation of nearly $840 million. This deflationary trend is further evidenced by a -0.57% annual inflation rate, with 4,288 ETH, worth about $10 million, burned in the last 24 hours.
The Ethereum market has responded positively to these developments, with a 2.6% price increase over the past day. Ethereum’s price performance over the week shows a 6.8% uptick, although resistance levels loom, and the asset is still down from its January 2024 peak.
Currently, Ethereum trades at half its all-time high from November 2021, but the staking and restaking narratives present potential for narrowing this gap.
Restaking, which enables users to stake the same ETH across multiple protocols, is gaining traction. CoinGecko’s introduction of a restaking token category, now valued at around $300 million, reflects this trend. Significant price increases in restaking tokens like Pendle Finance and Picasso, alongside the success of platforms such as EigenLayer, highlight the expanding interest in Ethereum’s staking ecosystem.
