ETH Staking Reaches New Heights

The percentage of the ETH supply staked has hit an all-time high of 27.95%. This increase follows a slight dip two weeks ago, where it fell by 0.76 percentage points in one day, moving from 27.58% to 26.82% on July 21.

Since that dip, ETH staking percentage has rebounded and experienced growth. Notably, the launch of ETH ETFs has contributed to a 1.9% increase in staked ETH.

Interestingly, the staking trend for ETH has decoupled from its price performance. After hitting highs of about $4,090 in March, ETH’s price has decreased by roughly 30% to $2,900 at present. However, the percentage of staked ETH has risen about 2%, going from 26% to nearly 28%.

With ETH’s current supply at approximately 120.25 million, this 2% uptick in staked ETH translates to an estimated value of around $7 billion.

This ongoing rise in staked ETH has significantly influenced the liquid staking and restaking protocols.

The Total Value Locked (TVL) in the liquid staking sector has surged by 60% year-to-date, climbing from $32.68 billion to $52.27 billion. Remarkably, the TVL for the liquid restaking sector has skyrocketed over 1,200%, advancing from $1.34 billion to $18.65 billion.

Among the leading performers, Eigenlayer has boosted its TVL more than tenfold, from $1.4 billion at the start of 2024 to $15.97 billion by the end of July.

Renzo has experienced astonishing growth, with its TVL multiplying by about 158 times, expanding from $10.45 million to $1.65 billion. Likewise, EtherFi has witnessed a 62-fold surge, with its TVL jumping from $98.24 million to $6.14 billion.

In contrast, LDO (+8.24%), Lido Finance’s governance token, presents a puzzling scenario. Despite the increase in ETH staked, LDO’s price has plummeted by 50% in 2024, resulting in a loss of approximately $930 million in market capitalization. This decline likely stems from LDO not deriving any direct value from the Lido protocol’s operations, as it functions solely as a governance token without fee switches, buybacks, or direct value accrual mechanisms.

This excerpt is taken from The Block’s Data & Insights newsletter. Explore the figures behind the industry’s most compelling trends.