Key Notes
- The recent ETH unstaking surpassed the January 2024 Celsius-driven spike and has exit wait times as high as 12 days.
- Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood attributes part of the withdrawals to institutional reallocation of staked ETH into digital asset treasury firms, such as SharpLink Gaming and Bitmine Technologies.
- According to staking provider Everstake, the surge in exits reflects a shift in validator strategies, such as restaking and optimizing returns.
The Ethereum blockchain network is seeing massive unstaking activity from validators and long-term holders, which was partially the reason behind the ETH price pullback earlier this week. The ETH unstaking requests have surged to an 18-month high, hitting a whopping $2.6 billion. Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood explains the key reason behind these massive withdrawal requests.
Ethereum Unstaking Requests Hit Record $2.6 Billion
Ethereum’s validator exit queue has surged to a record high, with nearly 693,000 ETH, worth $2.6 billion, now awaiting withdrawal. This marks the largest exit wave since the network’s staking mechanism went live.
According to on-chain data, exit wait times have extended to 12 days, underscoring the magnitude of the current exodus. In contrast, staking demand remains significantly lower, with only 296,000 ETH currently queued for entry.
The last time the exit queue was anywhere near this high was on January 5, 2024 at ~518K $ETH.
That spike was triggered by Celsius mass-unstaking ~206K $ETH to repay creditors, which clogged the queue for almost a week.
Today’s wave has already surpassed that record. pic.twitter.com/RDbOXfhVeZ
— CryptoRank.io (@CryptoRank_io) July 25, 2025
The previous peak in exit activity occurred on January 5, 2024, when the queue reached around 518,000 ETH. That spike was driven by Celsius, which initiated the mass-unstaking of roughly 206,000 ETH to meet creditor obligations.
Amid these huge unstaking requests, the ETH price saw a pullback to $3,550 earlier this week. However, it has recovered since and is trading higher amid strong inflows into spot Ether ETFs. As of press time, the ETH price is trading 3% higher at $3,761, with its market cap surpassing $454 billion.
Cathie Wood, Experts Share No Cause of Concern
Crypto industry veterans and experts view this ETH unstaking activity as a normal occurrence. Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood shared a few plausible reasons behind this development.
Wood attributes some of the ETH unstaking to Robinhood, introducing a new incentive by offering a 2% match on crypto transfers to its platform, to attract more digital asset investors.
But she added that at the same time, venture capitalists and institutional investors are reportedly reallocating staked Ethereum (ETH) into digital asset treasury (DAT) firms. Players like SharpLink Gaming and Bitmine Technologies have been on aggressive ETH accumulation over the past month. This, coupled with strong Ethereum ETF inflows from BlackRock, shows that the institutional demand stays intact.
Staking platform Everstake said the recent spike in Ethereum’s validator exit queue should not be seen as a sign of fear or network instability, but rather a “shift” in strategy. According to the protocol, many validators are likely to restake, rotate operators, or optimize their positions.
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Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.
