• The percentage of the ETH supply staked recently reached an all-time high of 27.95%
• Since the launch of the spot Ethereum ETFs last month, the percentage of ETH staked has increased by 1.9%
• Liquid restaking protocols like Eigenlayer, Renzo, and EtherFi have experienced exponential growth in total value locked (TVL) this year
Ethereum’s staked supply and usage of liquid staking protocols continue reaching all-time highs, even as ETH’s price declines substantially from its peak earlier this year. This decoupling of staking growth from price performance highlights Ethereum’s ongoing adoption and development.
Ethereum Staking Metrics Hit Record Levels
The percentage of ETH’s circulating supply being staked recently hit an all-time high of 27.95%. This comes after a brief decline in late July, when the percentage dropped 0.76 percentage points in one day. Since then, staking levels have not only recovered but exceeded previous records.
Additionally, since the launch of ETH ETFs last month, the percentage of staked ETH has grown 1.9%. With ETH’s current supply around 120.25 million, this 2% increase represents roughly $7 billion more ETH staked.
Liquid Staking Protocols See Exponential Growth
A direct result of the consistent increase in ETH staking is the parallel growth in liquid staking and restaking protocols. The total value locked in liquid staking has risen 60% year-to-date, from $32.68 billion to $52.27 billion.
Even more impressive is liquid restaking’s over 1200% explosion, from $1.34 billion to $18.65 billion this year. Leading protocols like Eigenlayer and Renzo have seen 10x and 158x growth respectively in their TVLs.
Lido Governance Token LDO Defies Trend
Interestingly, LDO, the governance token of the largest liquid staker Lido Finance, has fallen 50% in 2024, losing around $930 million in market capitalization. As a governance token, LDO likely does not benefit directly from Lido protocol growth and staking increases.
Conclusion
The data shows Ethereum network usage and staking continues setting new records, despite ETH’s price weakness in 2022. Liquid staking’s hockey stick growth highlights strong demand from ETH holders to earn staking rewards without sacrificing liquidity or control. As Ethereum progresses toward its consensus layer upgrade, The Merge, later this year, staking metrics should continue climbing.
