TL;DR
- The number of Ethereum validators has increased by 30% in the past year, surpassing one million in June 2024, according to Flipside Crypto.
- This growth reflects a greater institutional interest in cryptocurrencies, driven by innovations in restaking and liquid staking that offer immediate liquidity.
- The total amount of staked ETH grew by more than 27% in the past year, reaching over 34.7 million, thanks to the Shanghai upgrade and the approval of the first ETFs.
The number of Ethereum validators has grown by 30% in the past year, surpassing the one million mark for the first time in June 2024, according to a report from Flipside Crypto.
The surge highlights the growing institutional interest in cryptocurrencies and is largely attributed to innovations in the restaking and liquid staking sectors. Carlos Mercado, a data scientist at Flipside Crypto, stated that the popularity of these mechanisms is due to their ability to offer immediate liquidity, allowing investors to avoid withdrawal waiting periods on the Beacon Chain through liquid staked tokens.
Staking will never be the same.
Over the past year, the top PoS chains, Ethereum and Polygon, experienced big changes in access and user behavior in ways that will affect the future of staking across web3.
We explain it all in our new 2024 Staking Trends report 👇 pic.twitter.com/W6eua0hZ9Y
— Flipside 📊 (@flipsidecrypto) October 16, 2024
The rise in the number of validators has been accompanied by an increase in the total amount of staked ETH, which has grown by more than 27% in the past year, reaching over 34.7 million ETH for the first time in September. The increase is linked to the Shanghai upgrade and the approval of the first Ethereum futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which have been key to the development of Ethereum staking. The Shanghai upgrade, implemented in April 2023, allowed network participants to withdraw their ETH for the first time since the platform transitioned to proof-of-stake (PoS).
Ethereum and Polygon Continue Strengthening the Staking Market
The upward trend is not limited to Ethereum, as there is also growth in staking activities on other blockchains, including Polygon’s PoS network. The number of Polygon wallets participating in staking increased by more than 36.4% over the past year, although the number of validators on that network has remained steady since June, partly due to a cap on the number of allowed validators. This indicates that participants are not deterred by the possibility of reduced staking returns.
The staking market continues to consolidate, driven by growing institutional interest and innovation in staking models. As more participants enter the Ethereum ecosystem and other blockchains, confidence in these assets appears to strengthen, demonstrating sustained optimism in the crypto market
