Decline in ETH Staked Percentage

The percentage of ETH staked has dropped to 27%, a level not seen since July 2024. This marks the first decline from the peak of 29% reached in late 2024.

As of now, 33.5M ETH is staked in the Ethereum network, showcasing a substantial portion of its supply allocated to network security. Although this decline represents a two percentage point drop from peak levels, it’s significant as it’s the first decrease since the rise of staking popularity in May 2023.

Despite this decline, liquid staking derivatives (LSDs) maintain a strong presence within the Ethereum staking ecosystem. Lido leads as the dominant liquid staking protocol, holding approximately 69% of the LSD market share. Binance’s staked ETH follows as the second-most significant provider with around 15%. Lido also generated $89 million in revenue in January 2025, consistent with its average monthly revenue of about $85 million over the past year.

While Ethereum remains a critical component of DeFi and NFTs, recent market focus has shifted towards other protocols and ecosystems. This shift may indicate that investors are pursuing higher returns elsewhere or are reducing staked positions to explore other opportunities. Furthermore, the staking market’s maturation since the initial enthusiasm following the Merge could contribute to a more cautious approach to ETH staking.

The evolving staking landscape presents both opportunities and challenges for the network. Even with the recent decrease, the 27% staking rate ensures substantial network security through proof-of-stake.

However, the concentration of staked ETH among major LSD providers, especially Lido, raises significant concerns regarding network decentralization. This issue could be exacerbated if the staking participation rate continues to decline. As the Ethereum ecosystem develops, the interplay between staking rates, protocol dominance, and network security will be influential in shaping both protocol advancements and investor decisions.

This excerpt is from The Block’s Data & Insights newsletter, which explores the numbers underlying the industry’s most intriguing trends.