Ethereum Staking Booms Despite Market Volatility, But Over Half Remain Underwater
The quantity of Ethereum that has been staked is on the rise, but more than half of it is still at a loss despite the recent surge in the ETH price.
According to research shared by analysts on Feb. 18, a significant percentage of Ethereum that was staked is underwater. The data shows that 60% of all staked ETH was secured at a price of $1,600 or above, while the remaining 40% that was staked at lower prices is profitable.
Over 2 million ETH were staked at rates between $500 and $700 when the Beacon Chain was released in December 2020, and the asset was priced at around $600. Although more than half of Ethereum stakers are at a loss may not sound encouraging, the situation has improved since last year when the price of ETH fell as low as $1,000, causing more than 80% of staked ETH to be underwater.
Staked ETH
Currently, 16.7 million ETH is staked, worth around $28.2 billion at current rates, accounting for 13.8% of the total supply. Since the Merge in September 2022, this supply has shrunk by roughly 29,192 ETH or $49.2 million. Furthermore, the supply of ETH is presently deflationary, with a decline of about a quarter of a percent per year.
The upcoming Shanghai upgrade will enable the gradual release of staked Ethereum by the end of March, with analysts predicting a significant boost for liquid staking platforms that offer better yield opportunities than staking directly.
READ MORE: Bitcoin Positioned for “Big Move” – Here’s Why
More than 7 million ETH is currently staked on liquid staking protocols, which is roughly 42% of the entire staked amount, valued at $11.8 billion, according to DeFiLlama‘s Feb. 18 report.
Nevertheless, the recent regulatory action by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission might mean that Americans may have to look abroad for crypto staking options.
Ethereum price
Despite the fact that Ethereum prices have remained relatively stable in the last 24 hours, trading at $1,687 at the time of writing, the asset has fallen 65.4% from its all-time high of $4,878 in November 2021 after encountering resistance at just over $1,700 over the weekend.
The 1-day technical analysis summary signals for “buy” with a score of 15. Moving averages point to a “strong buy” with 13 signals, while oscillators have 3 signals for “buy”.
Alexander Stefanov
Reporter at CoinsPress
Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coinspress and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.
