From just 1,920 ETH in the withdrawal queue a month ago…
reaching a record level of 903,581 ETH (over $3.8 billion) today.
What is driving this historic wave of withdrawals, and should stakers be worried? Let's analyze with BullTheoryio.
👇1/ Exit Queue hits ATH
On August 19, 2025, Ethereum's withdrawal queue exceeded 903k ETH, becoming the largest validator withdrawal event ever.
To visualize:
👉It takes about 15 days to process everything.
👉Equivalent to nearly 2.6% of the total ETH staking waiting to be withdrawn.
2/ What is the Validator Queue?
Entry queue = validators waiting to participate in staking.
Exit queue = validators preparing to withdraw.
Entry/exit queue is a mechanism that helps protect the stability of Ethereum's PoS consensus mechanism.
👉Data on August 19, 2025:
Exit queue: ~903,581 ETH
Entry queue: ~262,713 ETH
3/ Why are validators leaving the network?
Take profit: ETH has been locked in staking for several months/years at prices between $1K–$2K. When ETH is above $4,400, some validators withdraw to take profits. This is a natural behavior after a strong rally.
Restructuring into larger validators: Previously, becoming a validator required a minimum of 32 ETH. Now, large organizations/programmers are combining into validator slots of 2,048 ETH to manage more easily and save costs. To do this, they must withdraw old validators → increasing the exit queue.
Transitioning to LST/LSD: Many validators are withdrawing to switch to liquid staking tokens (stETH, rETH, Ether.fi) or participate in EigenLayer.
That is: Withdraw → Unstake → Restake via LSD/EigenLayer.
👉Key point: Withdrawal does not mean panic selling. Most of this ETH is returning to staking in another form. There are still over 35M ETH locked in the Beacon Chain → reflecting long-term confidence.
4/ Fundamental analysis
Increased institutional demand: Inflows into ETH ETFs are steadily rising.
ETH Treasuries expanding: Many companies are adding ETH to their balance sheets as reserve assets, similar to BTC.
Staking supply being tightened: Over 35M ETH is being staked
Tokenizing US securities: A trillion-dollar opportunity, Ethereum is the core infrastructure as TradFi merges with DeFi.
GENIUS Act: Although it does not directly mention ETH, this law supports stablecoin issuers (Circle, PayPal) that are built on Ethereum → reinforcing confidence in the ecosystem.
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What about the price of ETH?
As for technical analysis, let's leave it, each person's personal angle, just search and you'll find 7749 reference charts.
I think nothing can keep increasing forever; at some point, there will have to be a correction. As investors, you should distinguish between 'speculative waves' and 'long-term value.'
👉For those trading short-term, take advantage of DAT waves, but always remember to manage capital risk; the crypto market can turn very quickly.
👉For long-term investors, it's essential to ask: will ETH truly be accepted by TradFi, or will it continue to circulate within the crypto-native community? And importantly, how to allocate capital, considering each person's risk tolerance.
