The cryptocurrency market has seen a notable upturn in recent weeks. This is an opportunity for Ethereum to return to the forefront, and for its validators to line up to withdraw their Ethers.
Ethereum: validators’ ETH leaving the ship
Since the beginning of the year, Bitcoin has largely dominated the cryptocurrency sector. This dominance is all the more significant given that the eternal runner-up, Ethereum, has posted rather disappointing performances for its cryptocurrency, ETH.
But things could well change this summer. Ether has shown a notable resurgence in volatility in recent weeks, rising more than 150% since its last local low in April at $1,555.
This surge can sometimes have unexpected consequences, such as triggering a very long exit queue for validators. Currently, $1.9 billion worth of ETH is waiting to be unstaked, with a simultaneous trigger of an extended withdrawal period of nine days.
This is a record that had not been equalled since January 2024, but nothing truly exceptional according to Andy Cronk, co-founder of staking service Figment. Indeed, “when prices rise, people unstake and sell to secure their profits”.
Nevertheless, this massive release of pending Ether weighs heavily on the ETH price, suggesting that selling pressure is on the way. Or maybe not.
Selling pressure cushioned by corporate cash reserves
This planned withdrawal of $1.9 billion in Ether raises questions about possible selling pressure. But analysts agree that the potential impact of this mechanism is negligible, thanks to a significant increase in inflows in recent months. An amount currently estimated at 360,000 ETH ($1.3 billion) is stuck in a six-day queue, which is unprecedented since April 2024.
This increase in entries is largely associated with the establishment of several large Ethereum corporate treasuries. This is the case, for example, with SharpLink, whose $1.3 billion in ETH is now locked on Ethereum to generate rewards. And it is clearly not the only one.
The reason for this acceleration? Since last May, staking has finally been given the green light by the SEC, with the immediate effect of an unprecedented increase in the number of validators, which has risen from 54,000 to 1.1 million since then. Could this be a new sign of Ethereum’s long-awaited revival?
