The volume of Ether staked keeps reaching new heights since the Shapella upgrade in April, crossing 23 million Ether locked in June.
According to data from analytics firm Nansen, a total of 23.3 million Ether (ETH) was staked as of June 27, amounting to $43.1 billion at the time of writing and representing nearly 20% of the current $220 billion supply of ETH. In comparison, Solana (SOL) currently has a staking ratio of 70.58%.
In the Ethereum blockchain network, staking refers to the process of validating transactions. In order to earn validator status and secure the network, users lock in (stake) its native ETH token and earn rewards as a result.
The Ethereum blockchain completed its Shapella hard fork on April 12, allowing validators to withdraw their staked Ether from the Beacon Chain. In the first week of withdrawals, validators unstaked more than a million ETH. The upgrade has led to ETH stake growth since then.
“The Shanghai upgrade essentially eliminated this risk by allowing users to stake and unstake at will. As a result of this de-risking, we’re seeing a surge in staked ether — and, as expected, the network is quickly catching up to rival chains such as Solana in terms of percentage of the native token being staked on the network. This is a very healthy sign for Ethereum,” Dave Weisberger, CEO of algorithmic-trading platform CoinRoutes, told Cointelegraph.
Ether’s staking is also catching the attention of regulators, with its future uncertain in the United States, where the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is tightening rules for crypto firms offering staking services.
In February, crypto exchange Kraken settled with the SEC for $30 million and closed its staking services for U.S. clients. According to the SEC, the service qualified as a securities offer and the exchange should have obtained an appropriate license to operate the service. Most recently, the regulator took action against Coinbase’s staking program, claiming it was offering securities.
The U.S. is home to the majority of node operators on the Ethereum blockchain, housing 48% of all validators.
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