Staked Ethereum Reaches New All-Time High

The amount of Ethereum staked reached new heights in June 2025, setting an all-time high for the first time since November the year prior.

Ethereum has copped a battering in the recent news cycle, with investors questioning the project’s direction, leadership and perceived stagnation.

Despite middling price performance, the ecosystem has demonstrated relative strength. Data from BeaconChain shows that nearly 35 million ETH is locked up on-chain – worth approximately $136 billion AUD. 

Since Ethereum’s merge to a Proof-of-Stake network in 2022, the amount of ETH locked up on-chain has steadily grown. 

The amount of cryptocurrency staked on its native network is a common indicator of ecosystem health and somewhat comparable to total value locked (TVL) as a DeFi metric.

Proof-of-Stake protocols, like post-Merge Ethereum, rely on node validators to lock up (stake) crypto and independently verify transactions. The more ETH being staked – the more decentralised the network theoretically is.

It also demonstrates that investors engage with the protocol rather than leaving their assets in long-term storage on an exchange or in a custodial wallet.

Some have theorised the reason for Eth’s spike in staking is due to the rise of liquid staking.

Liquid staking is a DeFi mechanism that lets you earn rewards by locking up your ETH, while still being able to use its value in other DeFi apps.

Additionally, institutional involvement in the Ether sphere is beginning to ramp up alongside ETF inflows – the May–June period saw 15 straight trading days of inflows.

Although U.S.-based Ether ETFs currently can’t stake their ETH, the Securities and Exchange Commission is deliberating on whether to allow this feature.

If greenlit, spot Ether ETFs may blow the current ETH staking numbers out of the water.

Regardless, the news points to growing on-chain momentum for Ethereum – a welcome shift after a volatile and uncertain year for the project.