Ether in the staking queue has decreased by over 25% since early September, while the exit queue has reached its longest duration for 2026.
By Shaurya MalwaOct 5, 2026, 2:40 a.m. EDT2 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on Ethereum's exit queue for staking has reached a new peak for 2026. (Shaurya Malwa/CoinDesk)SummaryShow- The Ether exit queue surged more than fivefold within three days, hitting approximately 851,000 ETH on October 2 after MetaMask initiated withdrawals of validators due to a security issue.
- As of Monday, about 786,000 ETH, valued at over $2 billion, was still in the exit queue, with an estimated wait time of nearly 14 days due to restrictions on how quickly validators can exit.
- MetaMask reported no evidence of impact on wallets or customer funds, while Lido anticipates that the withdrawn Ether will gradually be restaked, a process that may take up to 45 days.
The amount of Ether ETH$2,724.46 waiting to exit staking has increased significantly following MetaMask's decision to pull validators after a security incident involving a popular wallet application last week. This has led to the longest exit queue recorded in 2026.
On September 29, only about 166,000 ETH was queued for exit, but by October 2, this number had surged to approximately 851,000 ETH, which represents around 2% of the total 43.6 million ETH staked. This figure is notably higher than the roughly 476,000 ETH that exited during a spike in May.
As of Monday morning in Asia, approximately 786,000 ETH, worth just over $2 billion, remained in the exit queue with an estimated wait of nearly 14 days.
Staking enables Ether holders to earn rewards by locking their assets with validators, the nodes responsible for verifying Ethereum transactions. To maintain network security, Ethereum regulates the rate at which validators can join or leave the network.
Currently, the network allows for about 57,600 ETH to enter and exit each day, which leads to the buildup of queues for significant movements. Withdrawn coins undergo a separate process before being returned to their owners' wallets.
In contrast, demand to initiate staking has been decreasing. On Monday, around 1.5 million ETH, valued at approximately $4 billion, was queued to enter staking, with an estimated wait of about 25 days. This is a decline from roughly 2 million ETH and a 35-day wait earlier in September.
The majority of this increase in the exit queue is attributed to MetaMask, which is not only renowned for its cryptocurrency wallet but also operates validators for Lido, a service that aggregates users' Ether for staking. An Ethereum security researcher named Kaden estimated that the precautionary exits involved around 17,000 validators holding approximately 523,000 ETH, though these figures remain unverified by MetaMask.
MetaMask reported a security incident on September 30 and began deactivating the affected validators. An update on October 1 indicated that the investigation found no signs of compromised wallets or customer funds.
This implies that the majority of the exit queue represents a temporary diversion for one operator's assets. Lido anticipates that the affected Ether will gradually be restaked as the validators exit, withdraw their balances, and rejoin staking. The entire process could take up to 45 days, during which the affected validators will miss out on rewards.
"No action is required from stETH holders," Lido reassured last week, referring to the token representing users' stakes in the service.
Lido expects the last of the impacted MetaMask validators to cease staking by October 7, after which their funds will join the queue to start staking again.
Read More: MetaMask security incident forces Ethereum staking exits, no funds at risk
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