Ethereum has reached a new all-time high in staking, with approximately 43 million ETH now deposited in the network's staking contract, representing close to 35% of the total circulating supply. According to real-time data from ValidatorQueue published on September 14, both metrics continue to climb with no signs of slowing down.
The staked supply and its percentage of total supply have moved in sync since 2020. The line crossed 40 million ETH earlier this year and accelerated to 43 million in recent weeks, recording a notable acceleration over the past few months. This directly reduces the ETH available to trade on secondary markets, creating a structural tightening of liquid supply. A similar dynamic appeared in the validator queue at the end of last year when staking inflows doubled outflows, signaling long-term conviction building ahead of this new record.
Ethereum is currently trading at $2,512.62, with a weekly gain of 0.9% according to CoinGecko. The weekly chart shows a peak above $2,600 on September 12, followed by a rapid correction toward the $2,450 to $2,550 range where the price has remained stable. This price stability coexists with structural supply tightening, a combination that has historically preceded moves of greater magnitude.
Institutional interest is reinforcing this trend. BlackRock filed a request to launch an ETF that would allocate up to 95% of its ETH holdings to staking, rather than simply replicating the spot price. If approved, it would withdraw an additional portion of ETH from the liquid market, deepening the contraction that on-chain data already reflects.
However, early results from BlackRock's existing funds show that investors still favor the original non-staking product. The iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA), which provides straightforward ether exposure without staking, held approximately $8.96 billion in net assets on September 11. The newer iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB), which stakes part of its holdings and distributes a portion of the income, held roughly $1.05 billion. In secondary-market trading, ETHA generated an estimated $1.86 billion of share turnover that day, roughly 30 times ETHB's $61.8 million.
ETHB is paying investors a distribution of $0.036487 per share payable September 10 after beginning to earn staking rewards in May. Yet ETHA attracted $148.8 million of net inflows on September 11 compared with $18.3 million for ETHB, according to Farside Investors data.
The comparison has limitations: ETHA has had substantially more time to accumulate assets, trading relationships, and institutional adoption. Its roughly $1 billion asset base still represents meaningful demand for a newer product. ETHA also benefits from a 30-day median bid-ask spread of 0.05% compared with 0.06% for ETHB, giving institutions more capacity for larger positions.
ETHB carries additional complexity. About 75.85% of its ether was classified as staked as of September 10, while roughly 24.15% remained unstaked to provide liquidity for fund operations and redemptions. The fund carries a standard annual sponsor fee of 0.25% (temporarily waived to 0.12% on its first $2.5 billion of assets for 12 months beginning March 12), plus a staking fee of 10% of gross staking consideration, down from an earlier 18%. Under stressed conditions, ETHB's prospectus allows delayed settlement or cash-only redemptions.
The next signal will be whether ETHB can convert its distribution feature into sustained creations rather than episodic demand around payouts. Until then, BlackRock can capture both preferences: investors prioritizing ETHA's established liquidity and those willing to accept additional complexity to earn staking income through ETHB.
