Ether has recently rebounded strongly, rising over 160% since the April low, attracting market attention and triggering the largest scale of staker exits in over a year. Analysts believe this is due to stakers 'taking profits at a high.'

Validator Queue data shows that as of 10 AM Taipei time on Wednesday, a total of 521,252 Ether (worth $1.94 billion) are queued to exit the validator ranks, setting a record high since January 2024, further extending the staking withdrawal waiting time to over 9 days.

The 'Collective Unblocking' After a Surge

Behind this wave of capital withdrawal, many early entrants with low costs are choosing to lock in profits, turning paper gains into real cash.

Andy Cronk, co-founder of Figment, stated: 'Whenever the coin price surges, we always see a large number of users redeeming their staked assets, selling at a high, and securing profits.'

He added that in the past several cycles, both retail and institutional levels have experienced 'unstaking waves,' which has become a norm in the crypto space. However, if large institutions change custodians or wallet systems, it may also lead to a sudden surge in redemption volume.

In fact, between March and April this year, when Ether hovered between $1,500 and $2,000, a large influx of validators entered, and much of this capital, which was positioned at the bottom, is now in profit, naturally becoming the main force behind this round of withdrawal.

Institutions shift to reserve strategies

David Shuttleworth, a partner at Anagram, believes that this wave of staker exits may come from two groups: 'one is early stakers cashing in; the other is institutions adjusting their capital positions, shifting assets toward reserve strategy operations.'

In recent weeks, financial companies focusing on allocating Ether have gradually become the focus of Wall Street, such as SharpLink Gaming (SBET) and Bitmine (BMNR), and are actively absorbing Ether in the market.

According to Matthew Sheffield, head of spot trading at FalconX, some companies have even accepted Ether in physical form (In-kind) as capital during fundraising, prompting some institutions to choose to unstake and invest.

The entry enthusiasm remains strong! Staking demand robustly supports the market.

However, it is worth noting that even though there is a surge in exits, the market may not necessarily face huge selling pressure, as a new wave of staking demand is rapidly emerging.

Statistics show that there are still over 359,000 Ether (approximately $1.34 billion) queued to participate in staking, reaching a new high since April 2024, which has extended the waiting time for entry to over 6 days.

Some of the new demand may come from Ether reserve strategy companies. For example, Sharplink Gaming has accumulated over $1.3 billion in Ether since its transformation at the end of May and has committed to staking for long-term returns.

Additionally, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a statement at the end of May clarifying that 'staking does not violate U.S. securities laws,' restoring confidence among institutional investors.

According to data from validatorqueue.com, since the end of May, the number of active Ethereum validators has surged by 54,000, approaching 1.1 million, setting a record high.

Figment stated that since the SEC's announcement, the institutional staking commission volume it serves has increased by over 100%, while the overall staking waiting time has surged by 360%, almost in sync with the price trend of Ether.

"The surge in Ether triggers 'Staker Profit-Taking'! Nearly $2 billion queued to exit, withdrawals taking 9 days" was originally published on (Block Ke).