A whale has concluded a two-year journey of ETH staking, but the outcome is somewhat heavy:
He initially staked 4,889 ETH, costing about 9.14 million USD.
Received 291 ETH as rewards, totaling 5,180 ETH returned. Looks like a profit? Not quite—based on the current price, this staking ultimately resulted in a net loss of about 255,000 USD.
Two years of locking → Loss of time value
ETH price volatility → Tightened costs
Insufficient returns → Unable to cover the principal loss from the price drop
This incident offers three insights for the market:
Staking ≠ guaranteed profit; long-term locking in high-volatility assets is a risk, not a safeguard.
Even whales can misjudge cycles; blind faith may lead to both time and capital drawdowns.
The current staking incentives for ETH are gradually being challenged by more efficient and liquid emerging public chains, and the ecological appeal needs new narratives for support.
What is favorable for ETH is:
Whales “cutting losses” may indicate a release of phase-based selling pressure.
The network has been operating stably for two years, and the technical aspect is becoming mature.
But we must also face the negatives:
Faith in holding is being undermined by real returns.
More funds may shift towards ecosystems with higher liquidity like Sui and Solana:
The market has no eternal winners, nor are there guaranteed strategies.
Daring to examine losses and understand trend changes is more powerful than simply holding on.
Brothers, smart holding has never been about stubbornly clinging; it's about dynamic adjustments.
