Ethereum liquid staking protocols hold 11,35 million ethers, worth over $18.700 billion USD, nowadays.
Despite the slowdown in the cryptocurrency market, the number of ethers deposited in staking protocols has continued to grow this year.
Data from the DeFi platform Llama shows that in the last month alone, the amount of ethers in Liquid staking increased by 6,5%. This metric has increased by over 89% so far this year. The above figures equate to around 680.000 ethers and 5,35 million ethers added, respectively, across the various platforms offering ETH staking services.
Source: DeFi Llama
Top Ethereum Staking Protocols
As far as liquid staking protocols go, Lido remains the largest in the crypto world, as it owns About 74% of all staked ether on the network, about 8,4 million ETH, at present.
According to data from DeFi Llama, over 470.000 ethers were added to Lido in the last month.
Source: DeFi Llama
Coinbase's staking service and decentralized platform Rocket Pool rank second and third respectively among the top staking protocols in the crypto industry.
These protocols boast unique features, such as their own Ether-pegged tokens, which offer users the ability to stake Ethereum in a simple, secure, and decentralized way, allowing users to access the service using only fractions of 1 ETH and always keeping their funds available. Thanks to these features, Ether staking has become more accessible to everyone.
What is staking?
Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchains rely on validator nodes to form new blocks and confirm transactions. Nodes become validator nodes by locking or staking a network's native cryptocurrency on the same blockchain as the network itself. This process is known as staking.
In the case of Ethereum, nodes must deposit and lock ETH on the network to become validator nodes and earn the right to validate transactions, as well as participate in consensus and contribute to the security of the network.
Ethereum validators are rewarded for the work they do on the blockchain. However, to become a validator and stake directly on the Ethereum network requires 32 ETH, which is currently worth over $52.800. For this reason, protocols such as Lido and Rocket Pool were created to make staking on Ethereum and, in the case of Lido, other PoS blockchains easier and more accessible. These protocols also remove the complexity of setting up and managing validator nodes.
Whales continue to accumulate ethers
In addition to liquid staking, the number of ethers held by whales has also been increasing.
Crypto/blockchain industry data analytics platform Lookonchain highlighted on X (formerly Twitter) that in the last week, 56.100 ether (about $92 million USD) to 4 whale addresses. Three of these whales acquired about $30 million USD worth of ETH each.
The above data shows that despite the fluctuations in the price of ETH, both stakers and investors remain confident in the second most capitalized cryptocurrency on the market.
At press time, ETH is trading at around $1.651 per unit, according to CoinMarketCap.
Continue reading: Why do Latinos continue to invest in cryptocurrencies?
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