Ethereum Staking Queues Hit New Delays as MetaMask Exits Lido Validators

Ethereum's entry queue for new stakers has reached a significant backlog, with waiting times extending to 25 days. As of October 5, 1.44 million $ETH was held in the entry queue, according to data from validatorqueue.com. Meanwhile, the exit queue saw a notable reduction, dropping to 767,349 $ETH from a peak of 850,736 $ETH on October 2.

The decline in the exit queue is linked to MetaMask's decision to unwind validators it ran through Lido, following a security incident disclosed on September 30. Approximately 17,000 Lido validators, representing around 523,000 $ETH, joined the exit queue. Exits from the queue take about 13 days and eight hours to clear, with Ethereum's churn limit allowing only 57,600 $ETH to be processed per day on each side.

Lido has characterized these exits as temporary, anticipating the return of most of the staked $ETH within 45 days. The last impacted validators are expected to exit by the end of October 7, though full withdrawals may take longer. MetaMask has reassured users that their secret recovery phrases and assets were not compromised, emphasizing its non-custodial staking model.

As of the time of writing, $ETH was trading near $2,715, up 0.4% over 24 hours. The value of the $ETH leaving MetaMask’s validators is approximately $1.42 billion. Total staked $ETH stands at around 43.7 million, or 36% of supply, with the number of active validators at 866,944 and a staking yield of about 2.6%.