The Ethereum validator exit queue is increasing with more than $10 billion awaiting withdrawal. This matches the massive sell-off ETH price is experiencing.
Ethereum ETH $4 452 24h volatility: 5.4% Market cap: $538.36 B Vol. 24h: $49.31 B price is in the spotlight as there is a notable exodus of ETH validators, with up to $10 billion waiting to exit the ecosystem. This may have contributed to the price reversal of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. On the flip side, institutional investors like Grayscale are stepping in to fill the void.
Institutional Clients Replace Validator Exodus
Validators are an integral part of the Ethereum ecosystem because of their role in sustaining the network. Particularly, they are responsible for adding more blocks to the Ethereum blockchain while verifying transactions.
This week, Ethereum witnessed its largest validator exit ever, with more than 2.4 million ETH waiting to be withdrawn from its Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network.
Notably, the stash is worth roughly $10 billion following the decline in the Ethereum price. Grayscale and some other institutional clients are in the validator entry queue, with a decisive push to replace the coins leaving the system.
On Oct. 6, Grayscale introduced staking for its US-listed spot Ethereum ETFs, the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE) and Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF (ETH). It was a first-of-its-kind move in the US market. At the time, Ethereum price had bounced back towards a recovery, and ETH was trading at around $4,600.
Ethereum Validator Queue Time Extends Further
Also, it was observed by ValidatorQueue.com that the queueing time was extended to more than 41 days and 21 hours due to the spike in withdrawals.
Currently, the validator exit queue is about five times larger than the Ethereum entry queue. Meanwhile, there are growing concerns over potential sell pressure for Ethereum holders, especially due to the rally in pending withdrawals.
All validators may be looking to take profit, but one thing to note is that a major percentage of the $10 billion may be sold. This comes from the premise that the price of the altcoin has spiked by up to 83% over the past year.
At the time of this writing, Ethereum was trading at $4,483.21, having lost 4.51% of its price gain within the last 24 hours. Its trading volume still looks promising with a 25.53% increase in the last 1 day. Should the coins leaving the system be sold, the coin may lose the $4,200 support it has established.
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