Ethereum staking exit queue hits 2024 high after MetaMask security incident

Ethereum's staking exit queue has surged to its longest point in 2024, now spanning nearly 14 days, after MetaMask began pulling validators following a security incident. About 166,000 ETH were waiting to exit on September 29, but that number jumped to 851,000 ETH by October 2, representing roughly 2% of the total 43.6 million ETH staked. As of Monday, around 786,000 ETH, worth over $2 billion, remained in the exit queue.

The network limits how quickly validators can join or leave to maintain security. Currently, about 57,600 ETH can enter or exit each day, creating queues during large moves. Coins exiting then undergo a separate withdrawal process before reaching their owners' wallets.

Separately, demand to start staking has cooled, with about 1.5 million ETH waiting to enter as of Monday, down from 2 million ETH in early September. The wait time to start staking has also decreased from 35 days to roughly 25 days. Most of the exit queue increase was attributed to MetaMask, which operates validators for Lido, a staking service.

MetaMask disclosed a security incident on September 30 and began taking affected validators out of service. An update on October 1 stated that no wallets or customer funds were affected. Lido expects the affected ether to return gradually over up to 45 days, with validators missing rewards while out of service.