Stakers rush to exit Ethereum after 160% rally

According to CoinDesk, by Tuesday, the wait time in the Ethereum validator exit queue reached a record for more than a year. This indicates the desire of stakeholders to withdraw funds as soon as possible after the significant rise in ETH prices.

As of Tuesday afternoon, nearly 519,000 ETH worth $1.92 billion at current prices were in the US exit queue, as reported by validatorqueue.com. The withdrawal delay at this point is more than 9 days.

The congestion is related to the dynamics of Ethereum's Proof-of-stake model, which limits the rate at which validators join or leave the network.

The ongoing outflow is believed by CoinDesk to be due to profit taking by individuals who bought and staked tokens at much lower prices. After their price jumped 160% following the April drop, many are now looking to capitalize by unstaking and selling ETH.

As head of spot trading at brokerage FalconX Matthew Sheffield suggests, we can expect to see continued inflows into Ethereum-focused treasuries in the coming weeks. An increase in the validator exit queue could be one of the accompanying signs of this, he believes.