Ethereum's Staking Balances Mask Hidden Reality

Ethereum's institutional data hub reported $120 billion in staked ETH and $40.4 billion in daily average total value locked on layer-2 (L2) networks as of September 21.

This data measures different aspects of the Ethereum ecosystem: ETH committed to network security through staking, and assets held across L2 networks. Combining these figures would not accurately reflect fresh demand for new ETH purchases.

The US-traded Ethereum ETF sessions saw over $140 million in net outflows from September 15 to 18, indicating that investors may be pulling money out of this particular investment channel.