- Ethereum’s validator exit queue, clogged since September, has cleared after roughly four months.
- The backlog had delayed staking withdrawals and pressured liquid staking tokens; relief should reduce discounts and unwind friction.
- The exit limit remains in place to protect the network, currently allowing about 57,600 tokens to exit per day.
- New validator registrations have surged, with more than 1.7 million Ether entering the activation queue since December 24.
- BitMine has staked 936,512 Ether (about $2.9 billion) and holds just over 4 million Ether as it pursues a plan to stake 5% of supply.
Ethereum’s validator exit queue has cleared after remaining clogged for about four months following an incident in September when Kiln removed its entire validator fleet after Hackers exploited a platform vulnerability, as explained in an analysis linked here. The backlog had delayed withdrawals and complicated operations for staking services.
The queue’s blockage increased duration risk for liquid staking tokens, making them more likely to trade at a discount. Kirill Kutakov, co‑founder of Stakewise, said a cleared exit queue should reduce those discounts and make it easier for leveraged staking positions to unwind.
The exit mechanism limits how quickly Ether can leave the validator set to protect network security. The system currently allows roughly 57,600 tokens to exit per day. Each validator must lock at least 32 Ether, and staggered exits help prevent sudden drops in the validator population and disincentivize misconduct.
The cleared queue also relieves large protocols. Operators at Rocket Pool, which holds about $1.8 billion in staked Ether, will find it easier to redeploy validators ahead of its Saturn upgrade planned for February 9, according to Darren Langley, the protocol’s general manager.
Meanwhile, inflows into the activation queue have surged. Data shows Ether entering the queue jumped nearly 300% since December 24 to more than 1.7 million, per validator queue data, and new validators now wait over 30 days to join the network, per Beaconcha.in. The staking push includes a large contribution from BitMine, which began staking on December 26 and has locked up 936,512 Ether (about $2.9 billion). BitMine’s chair, Tom Lee, has stated an aim to stake 5% of Ether supply, noted in a company release here, and the firm now holds just over 4 million Ether, roughly 67% toward that target.
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