Ethereum Staking Exit Queue Hits Record Length

Ethereum staking exit queue has reached its longest wait of 2026, with over 786,000 ETH, worth more than $2 billion, waiting to be withdrawn from the network.

This surge in withdrawals is largely due to MetaMask, a cryptocurrency wallet provider that also runs staking services, withdrawing its validators as a precaution following a security incident.

According to Lido, the service that pools users' ETH for staking, the affected validators are expected to stop staking by October 7, after which their coins will join the queue to start staking again.

Lido estimates the whole process could take up to 45 days, with affected validators missing rewards while they are out of service.