The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
Even as crypto sentiment remains weak, JPMorgan analysts see the possible mid-year approval of U.S. market structure legislation as a positive catalyst.
The number sounds almost too big to take seriously. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin posted a detailed technical roadmap on February 27 outlining how the network could handle up to 1,000 times its current transaction capacity — without pricing out the smaller node operators who keep the system decentralized. Related Reading: Bitcoin Sell-Off Slows Down, But The Road To Recovery Is Long — Analyst The document, which Buterin informally calls the “Strawmap,” breaks the work into three problem areas: execution, data, and state. Near-Term Upgrades Come First The closest item on the list is an upcoming protocol upgrade called “Glamsterdam.” According to reports, one of its key changes introduces block-level access lists — a technical adjustment that allows different parts of a block to be processed simultaneously rather than one after another. Reports also say the upgrade improves how efficiently each 12-second block slot is used, making it safer to pack more transactions into every block without destabilizing the network. Now, scaling. There are two buckets here: short-term and long-term. Short term scaling I’ve written about elsewhere. Basically: * Block level access lists (coming in Glamsterdam) allow blocks to be verified in parallel. * ePBS (coming in Glamsterdam) has many features, of… — vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 27, 2026 Buterin acknowledged that these changes, combined with better client software, might be enough to reach a stable state on their own. If real usage stays low, he suggested the full 1,000x push could be shelved in favor of other priorities entirely. Zero-Knowledge Proofs Take Center Stage In Longer Plans The more ambitious part of the roadmap involves zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machines, or ZK-EVMs. Rather than requiring every validator to re-run every transaction to confirm it is legitimate, ZK-EVMs allow validators to check cryptographic proofs instead — a far lighter task. According to reports, Buterin’s timeline calls for a small group of validators to begin using this method as early as 2026, with broader adoption potentially following in 2027. If that plays out, the network’s capacity ceiling could be raised significantly without forcing node operators to invest in more powerful hardware. Related Reading: Aave Crosses $1 Trillion In Loans — No Bank Required State Growth Gets Its Own Fix Reports say Buterin flagged state growth as a separate and underappreciated problem. Deploying a large smart contract adds data that every Ethereum node must store permanently — and that accumulated storage gradually raises the cost of running a node at all. His proposed fix tracks state creation gas independently, so it does not count against the regular transaction gas cap. Large contracts could still be deployed, but their pricing would reflect the real long-term storage cost. The 1,000x figure is a long-term ceiling, not a promise for next year. Each phase of the plan depends on the one before it working as intended. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
Stakers who vote at least twice during their lock period would earn roughly 2% annualized rewards from the WLFI treasury.
The Ethereum Foundation has begun staking a portion of its ether treasury, targeting about 70,000 ETH to generate rewards for operations.
Institutional ownership of Sharplink’s common stock has grown to 46% as of Dec. 31, according to the latest available 13F filings.
CoinShares researcher Luke Nolan says the 50% figure is ‘inaccurate, or at least materially misleading’ and staked ether is closer to 30% of supply. Ethplorer.io’s Aleksandr Vat agrees.
The Nasdaq-listed SUIS fund offers direct exposure to Sui’s native token while passing through proof-of-stake rewards in a regulated ETF wrapper.
Bitwise's February announcement arrived as two moves packaged as one. The crypto asset manager announced a partnership with Morpho to launch curated yield vaults and simultaneously acquired Chorus One's institutional staking business. It looks like a deliberate assembly: curation mechanisms to filter protocol risk, infrastructure to deliver returns, and enough operational scaffolding to make the […]
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BlackRock has sharpened the staking posture for its iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB), outlining a plan to keep most of the fund’s ETH staked and earning rewards rather than held in custody. In its latest amended filing, the sponsor said that under normal market circumstances, it would seek to keep 70% to 95% of […]
The post BlackRock to skim 18% of staked Ethereum ETF rewards from investors — and ETHB exits could take weeks appeared first on CryptoSlate.
According to CoinMarketCap, Ethereum changed hands around $2,050 at one point, with a single-session move of about 7%. Reports have disclosed that roughly 30% of the total ETH supply is now locked in staking contracts, a level not seen before. Related Reading: Urgent Crypto Reform: Treasury Secretary Says The Clock Is Ticking That is a big shift in where supply sits, and it matters because locked coins are not available for quick trading. Staking Participation Hits A Record On-chain trackers show a steady climb in staking since early 2023. Back then roughly 15% of the supply was staked; today that figure has roughly doubled. People who lock ETH as validators do it to earn rewards and to help keep the network running. Many of those accounts are built to stay long-term. That matters because long-term holders change how supply and demand play out. Ethereum staking rate just hit a new all-time high. Over 30.5% of all ETH is now staked! Meanwhile ETH is trading at ~$1,950. Since early 2023, the staking rate has gone from ~15% to 30.5% in an almost perfect straight line. Bear market, bull market, crashes, rallies. Doesn’t… pic.twitter.com/8dS4xv7bok — Leon Waidmann (@LeonWaidmann) February 13, 2026 Liquid Supply Has Shrunk When a chunk of coins is tied up, it takes some selling pressure off the market. Locked ETH lowers the pool available on exchanges for fast sales. That does not guarantee a price surge, but it does tighten one side of the market. Traders watching supply flows often weigh that factor alongside macro moves and liquidity conditions. Some traders see this as a slow-burning bullish signal. Others remain cautious because other forces can push prices down even when supply is tighter. Ether Shows Volatility Around $1,900–$2,000 Prices have been bouncy. One day sees gains; the next day shows pullbacks. Reports note that ETH slipped below $2,000 at times as broader crypto momentum cooled. Some sessions point to strength, and some to weakness. Over the last week movement has been uneven. This is a market where headlines and flows still swing prices more than network fundamentals sometimes do. Validator Growth May Support Confidence The rising staking rate also points to growing validator infrastructure and investor patience. More validators means the consensus mechanism has more hands on deck. That has implications beyond price: it affects network security and how rewards are distributed. For many long-horizon investors, that steady build of validators is a reason to remain involved. Related Reading: Bitcoin At $8,000? Michael Saylor Says Strategy Still Won’t Break Timing of withdrawal unlocks is on watch lists. So is how quickly new staked ETH can return to exchanges when withdrawals are permitted at scale. Another big item is macro moves—rates, liquidity, and major market shifts. Those will likely control the next big price swings more than staking alone. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Ripple has enabled staking for Ethereum and Solana within its institutional custody business, expanding beyond safekeeping to include asset servicing features that large investors increasingly consider standard. The new capability, delivered through a partnership with staking infrastructure provider Figment, enables Ripple Custody clients to offer staking on major proof-of-stake networks without setting up validator infrastructure. […]
The post Ripple Custody just unlocked Ethereum and Solana staking, and institutions may finally get XRP yield without messy validator risk appeared first on CryptoSlate.
By the end of 2025, a corner of the market most Ethereum traders rarely watch had built a position large enough to matter for everyone else. Everstake’s annual Ethereum staking report estimates that public companies’ “digital asset treasuries” collectively held roughly 6.5–7.0 million ETH by December, which is more than 5.5% of the circulating supply. […]
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Sharps is increasingly framing passive staking rewards as a recurring cash-flow stream rather than a directional bet on SOL prices.
From yield potential to custody risks, here’s how direct ETH and staking funds compare for different investor goals.
Also: Neobanks trending, DVT staking proposal and Solayer $35M fund
The aim is to make staking more resilient while dramatically reducing technical complexity for large ETH holders.
Vitalik Buterin's proposal aims to boost network resilience by integrating native DVT technology into Ethereum’s staking protocol.
Pendle launches sPENDLE, replacing vePENDLE’s multi-year lockups with liquid staking, protocol buybacks, and a 14-day withdrawal period.
SOL Strategies has launched STKESOL, staking over 500,000 SOL to expand its Solana-focused infrastructure operations.
More than 36 million ETH is now staked in Ethereum's proof-of-stake system, close to 30% of the circulating supply and worth over $118 billion at recent prices. That headline number sounds like a clean vote of confidence: holders are locking up their ETH to secure the network, collect yield, and signal they’re in no rush […]
The post Ethereum staking just hit a $118B record at 30% of all coins, but one whale might be skewing the signal appeared first on CryptoSlate.
New validators now need to wait more than 44 days to start earning staking rewards, the biggest backlog since late July 2023.
According to ValidatorQueue data, staked Ethereum has climbed to close to 36 million, equal to nearly 30% of the circulating supply. That figure now represents more than $119 billion at current prices. Staking rose from 35.5 million to almost 36 million since early January, even though ETH has fallen more than 30% since August. Related Reading: Futures Frenzy Pushed Crypto Exchange Volume To Nearly $80 Trillion In 2025 The unstaking queue is zero, while the staking queue topped 2.5 million ETH — its highest level since August 2023. Based on reports, those moves point to strong long-term bets on the network. Ethereum Staking Shows Strong Conviction Institutional interest helped push the numbers higher. Publicly listed Digital Asset Treasuries and big staking services are said to be among the active participants. Some of the latest increases came during a stretch that had been mostly flat since last August. Market watchers say that rising stakes add to the protocol’s security profile, and the large queue suggests demand for on-chain commitments remains high even with price weakness. Buterin Says Infrastructure Is Ready Meanwhile, reports have disclosed that Ethereum’s founder, Vitalik Buterin, has urged builders to stop experimenting only in theory and start shipping real products. He has argued that the technical pieces are finally functional: the chain runs on proof of stake, transaction costs are lower, and scaling through ZK-EVMs and Layer 2s is working. Messaging that began with Whisper has been adapted into Waku, and apps such as Status and Railway were cited as examples that already use these systems. In 2014, there was a vision: you can have permissionless, decentralized applications that could support finance, social media, ride sharing, governing organizations, crowdfunding, potentially create an entire alternative web, all on the backs of a suite of technologies.… pic.twitter.com/ihU9qOrXfG — vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 14, 2026 He used the term “walkaway test” to describe a simple check: if a decentralized app’s operator disappears, can the data and functionality remain available to users? Fileverse, a decentralized document editor, was pointed to as a case where documents would survive even if the team behind it vanished. Builders Urged To Ship Practical Apps Buterin also criticized the trend toward overly centralized consumer devices and services that lock users into accounts and subscriptions. He warned against appliances that require registration and that may collect data on routine tasks. He contrasted those products with tools that a person truly owns and controls. The message was clear: now that infrastructure is in place, developers should focus on practical software people will actually use, not just experiments that live on testnets. What This Means Going Forward The split between the technical optimism and the market reality is visible. On one side, nearly 36 million ETH staked and a swollen staking queue show investor conviction in the protocol’s future. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s New Power Buyers: Companies Bought 3 Times What Miners Produced On the other, price pressure since August has been real and is still being felt. Reports emphasize that the climb in staked ETH strengthens the network’s security, but the call to build usable, user-friendly apps remains loud. If developers respond by shipping useful products that meet everyday needs, the combination of a secure chain and working applications could push broader adoption. For now, the numbers and the rhetoric are both sending a clear signal: the ingredients exist, and attention is shifting toward turning them into tools people rely on. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
BitMine, the largest corporate holder of Ethereum, has successfully staked 1.53 million ETH, a position valued at more than $5 billion. This massive allocation captures approximately 4% of all staked ETH and has effectively forced the network into a new phase of institutional stress testing. Consequently, the total amount of Ethereum locked in the blockchain's […]
The post Ethereum faces a dangerous 40-day deadlock after BitMine’s aggressive staking forces a historic liquidity squeeze appeared first on CryptoSlate.
In this edition, we explore why token buybacks are back in the spotlight, when they work, and when teams should think twice.
The strategy combines native Ethereum staking yield with restaking rewards and incentives from Linea and ether.fi, under a qualified custodian structure.
Ethereum's staking queues flipped as exits fell to zero and institutional inflows pushed entry demand to its highest level since November.
JupUSD is an Ethena whitelabel stablecoin backed primarily by BlackRock's tokenized USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund.
Hyperliquid Labs is set to receive its first major allocation of HYPE tokens, worth about $31.2 million, on Jan. 6.