According to BroadChain, at 02:16 on April 23, Bitcoinist reported that ETH staking activity continues to surge after the price broke through $2,300, with the staking rate exceeding 32% to reach a new historical high. Leon Waidmann, head of market research firm Lisk, disclosed that currently, 1 out of every 3 ETH is locked in staking contracts. This milestone took five years to achieve, marking a structural leap from the 0% staking rate in January 2021.
Data shows that staking volume has increased by 5% over the past 12 months, while Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs) accumulated an additional 6.6 million to 7.4 million ETH during the same period, accounting for approximately 5.5% to 6.1% of the supply. Comprehensive calculations indicate that about 38% of the ETH supply has exited the circulating market. Waidmann pointed out that "the bottleneck for ETH is not demand, but the available circulating supply," and emphasized that staking behavior has structural rigidity and will not be unwound due to price fluctuations.
Although staking lock-ups reduce market selling pressure, large holders (whales) are showing a bearish shift. Joao Wedson, founder of on-chain analysis platform Alphractal, discovered that large ETH holders on major exchanges such as Binance, OKX, and Gate are continuously building short positions, with their bearish inclination significantly higher than that of retail investors. This institutional behavior creates a divergence in market sentiment compared to the growth in staking.