Ethereum staking keeps setting a series of records, as the Beacon chain contract now holds over 30% of the total supply. Staking has attracted major players, including Bitmain, due to its easy access to passive rewards. Ethereum staking is becoming the go-to solution for whales, DAT companies, and other big holders. The rush to stake ETH follows the general growth of the Ethereum ecosystem. Additionally, liquid staking tokens allow holders to both own their ETH and have a liquid version for additional operations. Staking picked up in January, after the latest deposits brought the total to a new all-time high. Approximately 36 million ETH are staked, accounting for over 30% of the total supply. Staking now grows more slowly, but reflects the latest additions from large wallets, ETFs, DAT companies, and DeFi whales. Binance liquid staking is also emerging as a significant source of ETH. The value of staked ETH is at over $118B at current prices, and the supply will most probably remain outside the market. Any attempts at withdrawals have increased waiting time up to 48 days, so an exodus of stakers is improbable. In most cases, outflows are a way to consolidate wallets. Ethereum validators deposit another 2.3M ETH In the past month, a big shift happened for the Ethereum staking queue. The wave of withdrawals ended as big wallets consolidated their stakes. At the end of 2025, the entry queue once again passed the exit queue. Now, the entry queue is at the highest level since 2023. Over 2.34M ETH are waiting to enter the queue. ETH deposits to the validator queue accelerated since the end of 2025, reflecting the effect of Bitmine’s treasury, which will be staked for passive rewards. | Source: Validator queue Staking is one of the most efficient ways to take ETH off the market, incomparable even to a treasury company buying. Currently, the validator exit queue is practically empty, showing almost no interest in unstaking ETH. Staking rewards still earn 2.82%, usually distributed through some of the top validators. The return rate fluctuates slightly, but generally stays close to that range. For some staked treasuries, the returns may be significant. Bitmine becomes a major source of staking deposits Bitmine holds around 3.6% of the ETH supply, hoping to expand the holdings to 5%. In late 2025, Bitmine started its staking program. In the past day, Bitmine staked another 186,650 ETH, valued at over $624.8M. Bitmine will stake its ETH through the MAVAN validator for additional security. As a result, the treasury firm expects up to $500M per year in passive rewards. ETH is no longer deflationary and has increased its supply to 121,371,617 in total, adding 1.3M new tokens in the past year. Most of the added supply is offset by staking and accumulation in holding addresses. Over 25.8M ETH is held in accumulation addresses, leaving a significant part of ETH off the market. Want your project in front of crypto’s top minds? Feature it in our next industry report, where data meets impact.
