The successful Shapella hard fork on April 12 allowed validators on the Ethereum blockchain to withdraw staked Ether from the Beacon Chain after three years.
However, despite over 1 million ETH being withdrawn in the first week, it seems that many addresses have restaked their ETH, and the amount of staked ETH has now surpassed the number of ETH being withdrawn for the first time since the upgrade.
According to on-chain analytics firm Nansen, data suggests that more ETH is currently being staked than withdrawn.
As of April 17, the ETH staking volume of 124,000 ETH exceeded the withdrawal volume of 64,800 ETH for the first time. In the last 24 hours, the amount of staked ETH was 94,968 against 27,076 in withdrawals.
The first round was primarily partial withdrawals from Lido and old validators, and it takes approximately three days to get into the withdrawal queue.
Many believed that the Shapella upgrade was a make-or-break situation for the Ethereum blockchain, as millions in unlocked ETH posed a risk of mass selling.
However, the majority of validators are restaking their unlocked Ether, which has helped stabilize the market. Crypto exchange Binance will open withdrawals on April 19.
Out of the 1 million withdrawn ETH, three addresses restaked a total of 19,844 ETH. Three addresses transferred ETH to centralized exchanges (CEXs) after withdrawal, with 71,444 ETH sent to different exchanges.
Other whales did the same, with some sending it to Huobi staking addresses and a few others to CEXs, according to data shared by Lookonchain.
It’s worth noting that most early withdrawals are staking rewards, and a few validators, such as Kraken, had to exit to comply with a United States Securities and Exchange Commission ruling. Currently, 22,231 validators have signed up for a complete exit out of 574,624, while 910,930 ETH of the 18.6 million staked ETH is slated to be withdrawn.
Another prominent reason for the diminishing withdrawals could be ETH’s price, as the average price of staked ETH is about $2,137. This high price could be incentivizing users to keep their ETH staked rather than withdraw it, as they anticipate potential price increases in the future.
Staked ETH Rising after Shapella Upgrade
Overall, it seems that the Shapella upgrade has had a positive impact on the Ethereum blockchain, with validators choosing to restake their unlocked Ether rather than mass sell. This has helped to stabilize the market and bodes well for the future of the blockchain.