Ethereum prices fell after nearly reaching a record high last week, as analysts warned that an increase in unstaked coins could impact the market later this month.
The cryptocurrency rose from $3,698 at the beginning of August to $4,788 last Thursday, its highest level in four years. However, as of 9 AM UTC on Monday, it had fallen to $4,260—a decline of 10% after an increase of nearly 30% over two weeks.
The waiting time for unstaking ETH jumps from 25 to 40 days.
Sharp gains led to significant activity in unstaking. On August 9 alone, the Ethereum exit list was so crowded that processing times extended to about 25 days.
The unstaking process involves two main steps: the exit list and the withdrawal list. The exit list is when a validator requests to exit their role on the network. The withdrawal list is the next step where unstaked ETH is transferred back to the user's wallet. Unstaking typically takes only two to three days.
The list continued to grow. This accumulation reflects the increasing number of validators looking to sell ETH at a higher price.
Influencer X @notgrubles noted that the ETH validator exit list doubled to $3.7 billion in four days. As of August 18, Rated data showed that over 1.075 million ETH were waiting to exit, extending processing times to 40 days. In contrast, new staked ETH takes less than five days.
Requests for unstaking began to accelerate around August 6, meaning that some coins could reach user wallets by August 25. Analysts warn that prices could drop further if buyers fail to absorb the new supply.
However, some market watchers see a balance between inflows and outflows. Influencer X @0xCryptoSam stated that while net outflows of about 600,000 ETH are significant, the market has experienced similar conditions before. On July 26, a similar accumulation preceded a 20% rise over the following two weeks.