Ether dropped more than 7% from its 2025 high as the number of validators and investors looking to unstake ETH surged, pushing the network’s exit queue to its highest level in 18 months.
Ethereum, which operates on a proof-of-stake model, relies on validators who lock up their ETH to help secure the network. Those who wish to withdraw must pass through an exit queue — and according to staking platform Everstake, that queue has seen a dramatic increase in recent days.
As of Wednesday, approximately 644,330 ETH — worth around $2.34 billion — is awaiting withdrawal, with a wait time of roughly 11 days, data from ValidatorQueue shows. A similar spike in exits was last seen in January 2024, when ETH prices dropped 15% in just two weeks.
While the rise in withdrawals could suggest that validators plan to sell, it’s not necessarily a bearish signal. Everstake clarified that this trend reflects a broader “shift,” rather than panic. “Validators are likely exiting to restake, optimize strategies, or rotate operators — not abandoning Ethereum,” the platform noted.
Still, some investors may be looking to take profits, potentially creating short-term sell pressure. “It’s natural to assume some stakers are preparing to sell,” Everstake said, “which could trigger a temporary price correction.”
Profit-taking or strategic repositioning?
Despite the apparent wave of withdrawals, the picture is more nuanced: roughly 390,000 ETH — worth about $1.2 billion — is currently sitting in the entry queue. That brings the net amount of ETH being unstaked down to around 255,000.
Notably, the entry queue has grown significantly since early June, coinciding with aggressive accumulation from Ether treasury firms like SharpLink and Bitmine. Many of these corporate strategy firms have indicated plans to stake their ETH holdings to earn additional yield.
Meanwhile, Ethereum’s network fundamentals remain strong. The number of active validators has hit an all-time high, just shy of 1.1 million, and the total amount of ETH staked stands at around 35.7 million — nearly 30% of the total supply — valued at approximately $130 billion.
Ether pulls back from 2025 peak
Ether has pulled back about 7% from its seven-month high of $3,844 reached on Monday, slipping below $3,550 during late Wednesday trading as traders moved to lock in gains.
At the time of writing, ETH had recovered slightly to $3,643 but remains up more than 50% over the past month.
Despite the dip, institutional interest remains strong. U.S. spot Ether ETFs have attracted over $2.5 billion in inflows over the past six trading days — even before the approval of any staking-enabled ETF.
“We’ve seen $8 billion in net inflows via DeFi bridges into Ethereum mainnet over the past three months, along with a notable uptick in Ethereum ETF inflows, even as Bitcoin ETFs experience outflows,” Henrik Andersson, CIO of Apollo Capital, told Cointelegraph.
“This reflects growing interest from both on-chain natives and institutional investors,” he added.
Lido’s Liquid Staking Token Briefly Loses Peg
Tron founder Justin Sun recently withdrew approximately $600 million worth of ETH from the Aave DeFi lending platform, triggering a brief depeg of Lido’s liquid staking token, stETH (STETH), and a sharp decline in Aave’s liquidity.
According to Marcin Kazmierczak, co-founder of RedStone staking platform, the sudden move may have intensified the validator exit queue, as anxious yield farmers rushed to convert stETH back to ETH or offload it on secondary markets.
