I just noticed an interesting figure about Ethereum — more than half of the total ETH supply is currently locked in staking. Specifically, 50.18% according to on-chain data, which is about 60.2 million tokens. This is the first time Ethereum has reached this milestone since switching to proof-of-stake in 2022.

Looking back at the process, since The Merge, the staked amount has increased quite rapidly. From around 11.7% in September 2022, to 25% at the beginning of 2024, and now 50%. With Ethereum’s max supply being over 2.3k tokens, having half of that locked is a significant change. The ETH price also increased about 3% when this news was announced, currently fluctuating around $2.3k.

What does this mean? First, network security has increased significantly — as more Ethereum max supply is staked, the cost to attack the network becomes extremely high. Second, circulating supply decreases, which could impact liquidity and price volatility. Validators participating in staking earn rewards but cannot withdraw immediately — they must wait in a queue.

The Ethereum community is watching this quite closely because a very high staking ratio could also affect DeFi apps that need ETH to pay gas fees. Overall, this trend indicates long-term holders are increasing, rather than just short-term traders. It’s a positive sign for the network’s long-term development.