Ethereum's staked supply has hit a record 41.7 million ETH — about a third of the circulating supply — even as the token's price fell from $3,400 in January to $1,900. Corporate treasuries and new ETF filings keep adding to the total, even as developers debate a proposal to curb issuance rewards.
Ethereum's staked supply climbed to an all-time high of 41.7 million ETH on Aug. 10, according to a CryptoQuant chart shared by Bitfinex. The total has grown by about 5.5 million ETH since January, a period in which ETH's price fell from roughly $3,400 to $1,900.
Staking climbs even as ETH price slides
The 41.7 million ETH staked equals roughly one-third of Ethereum's circulating supply, which CoinMarketCap puts near 120.7 million ETH. crypto.news reported in January that 36.2 million ETH, nearly 30% of supply, was already staked.
Deposits held near 36 million ETH through late 2025 before rising steadily from February, then accelerating between June and August. ETH lost about 44% of its value from its January level over the same stretch, trading near $1,900 when Bitfinex published the chart.
Reinvested rewards keep the total climbing
Validators earn newly issued ETH for proposing blocks, attesting to transactions, and supporting consensus, and they may also collect priority fees and maximal extractable value. Part of that income can be reinvested into staking, compounding the total even as price falls, though returns decline as more validators join the network.
BitMine had about 4.9 million ETH staked as of July 12, roughly 85% of its Ethereum holdings. The company earned $45.7 million from staking and validation in the quarter ended May 31.
SharpLink has committed most of its own treasury to staking. Its strategy kept generating ETH rewards even as lower prices contributed to a $394.3 million second-quarter loss.
An issuance debate splits Ethereum's biggest stakers
The record deposits have renewed debate over EIP-8363, a proposal called Tapered Issuance Burn that would burn a growing share of consensus-layer rewards as the staking ratio rises and remove issuance rewards entirely once approximately half of Ethereum's supply is staked. The proposal's authors argue the current system keeps rewarding new deposits even after they provide limited security benefit, and it remains under review without formal approval.
SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom has opposed the plan. He argues that native yield supports Ethereum's institutional appeal and serves as a benchmark for returns across decentralized finance.
Staking has also grown more accessible through new US-listed products. Grayscale distributed about $9.4 million in ETH staking proceeds to ETHE shareholders in January, the first such payout from a US-listed Ethereum product. Morgan Stanley added staking provisions to its proposed Ethereum ETF.
The filing showed 3.64 million ETH waiting to enter validation as of May 18, an activation delay of about 63 days. Continued institutional participation could pull more ETH out of liquid markets, but staking offers no guarantee of price gains — the gap between record deposits and ETH's decline shows supply constraints can be outweighed by broader selling pressure.
Source: crypto.news
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