Overview
- Bitwise’s Q4 2026 staking report showed 43.8 million ETH was staked by the end of Q3, equal to 35.9% of supply and reflecting 1.99 million ETH of net inflows that quarter, figures published on Oct. 20.
- Gross staking yield fell to 2.63% in Q3 from 2.81% in Q2, with Bitwise attributing roughly 2.53 percentage points to new issuance and about 0.10 points to priority fees and MEV.
- Operator consolidation cut active validator records from about 1.1 million to roughly 881,000 after EIP‑7251 allowed larger validator balances while the underlying ETH remained staked.
- On‑chain liquidity is constrained by a 57,600 ETH/day exit cap that creates queue risk for large withdrawals, and protocol proposal EIP‑8061 would raise throughput to ease exits if adopted.
- After dilution from new issuance, Bitwise estimates a staker’s net annual share gain is about 1.7%, a dynamic that could attract institutional capital and further compress per‑ETH rewards while changing who bears operating costs.