Ethereum Staking Surges to All-time High Amid Institutional Wave

The amount of Ether locked and staked on the Beacon Chain has reached record levels, with more waiting to be staked.

“The supply of ETH is becoming deliberately difficult to access,” macroeconomics outlet Milk Road noted on Monday.

“Staking has just hit hard, millions of ETH are now going to be locked up,” they said before adding, “that’s being taken out of trading and out of active use.”

“This is a good long-term sign of price appreciation.”

The comments came in response to a Token Terminal post reporting that the average Ethereum staking has exceeded 30%, marking an all-time high.

The supply of ETH is intentionally hard to access.

Staking has just reached the top, in the millions $ETH it is now queued for locking. That is removed from trade and removed from active use.

This is a good long-term price appreciation signal.

At the top. pic.twitter.com/kZ3VzDWMch

— Milk Road (@MilkRoad) January 19, 2026

The best exchange for Ethereum Staking Queue

The value of Ether set at the moment is a record of 36.2 million, which is worth about $ 115 billion. This represents 30% of all supply, closed and earns about 2.8% in annual yields, according to Ultrasound Money.

The crisis looks extremely promising at the moment, with the confirmed entry line at its highest level since 2023, with 2.7 million ETH waiting to be staked. Meanwhile, the withdrawal line has dropped to almost zero, meaning no one is withdrawing their Ether yet, according to Confirmation Line.

A lot of that Ether on the line comes from institutions like digital asset wealth like BitMine and exchange-traded funds that can now offer huge rewards.

“Ethereum is the #1 choice for global financial institutions,” said an Ethereum X feed executive on Monday. “In the past few months, adoption has accelerated,” he added, referring to 35 stories of how institutions are building on Ethereum, shared by Fundstrat’s Tom Lee.

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A great list compiled by @ethereum describing the 35 largest financial institutions that have built on Ethereum in the past few months

Ethereum is the future of finance$ETH$BMNR @BitMNR

— Thomas (Tom) Lee (not drum) FSInsight.com (@fundstrat) January 19, 2026

Nic Puckrin, CEO and founder of Coin Bureau, called it “a big vote of confidence in Ethereum,” but warned that the measures are to measure coins, not condemnation. One whale depositing one million ETH looks similar to one million believers depositing one ETH, but it represents a very different market force, he said.

“So when you see ‘30% of ETH staked,’ the real question is not whether that’s bullish. Who staked it, how liquid is it really, and how quickly can it change its mind?”

ETH Price Cools

Ether spot markets have lost a little momentum since the weekend, as the commodity fell another 1% on the day to fall below $3,200 during Tuesday morning trading in Asia.

ETH prices are down 5% since the weekend as markets are still reeling from Donald Trump’s recent escalation of the global trade war.