After wait times for unstaking ETH on Ethereum skyrocketed last summer, it’s now the turn of the staking queue to explode. Why is this happening?
Wait times for staking ETH on Ethereum are skyrocketing
Over the past few months, we’ve covered Ethereum staking several times, as the queue to withdraw ETH had grown significantly—so much so that it peaked at over 46 days in September.
Gradually, the queue has cleared, to the point where it now takes just 13 minutes to withdraw your ETH.
Conversely, the wait time to stake ETH has increased significantly, currently standing at 37 days and 12 hours as of this writing. For comparison, this is the longest wait time since July 9, 2023:
Wait times in days to enter and exit staking on Ethereum
Expressed in terms of ETH, this queue currently stands at 2.17 million units.
The main reason for this sharp increase in the waiting time lies with Bitmine, the largest Ethereum Treasury Company, whose Ether holdings represent 3.45% of the total supply. Of the more than 4.16 million ETH held by the company, approximately 30% is currently used to secure the Ethereum blockchain, and this amount nearly doubled last week:
As of January 11, 2026, the total ETH staked on Bitmine stands at 1,256,083 (equivalent to $3.9 billion at $3,119 per ETH). This represents an increase of 596,864 ETH compared to the previous week. This amount represents only a fraction of the 4.17 million ETH held by Bitmine. […] Bitmine is currently collaborating with three staking providers as part of its preparations for the commercial launch of its MAVAN (Made in America Validator Network) in 2026. Bitmine has staked more ETH than any other entity in the world.
Other, more marginal reasons for these longer timeframes can also be cited, such as the fact that staking provides regular returns, currently at a rate of 2.83% per year. However, this assumption should be viewed in context, since higher returns can be achieved with stablecoins—or even outside the crypto ecosystem—without being exposed to ETH’s volatility.
Nevertheless, the fact that the price of ETH is currently down 36.7% from its all-time high (ATH) could actually be seen as an investment opportunity by some investors, who might seek to maximize their potential profits through staking.
Just as we did with the withdrawal queue, we can now turn our attention to these deposit wait times, which could continue to lengthen if Bitmine or other Ethereum Treasury Companies pursue their staking ambitions, but also once specialized ETFs are approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
