In a recent report, it has been revealed that over the past 24 hours, the net value of Ethereum removed from staking has surpassed $1 billion. This once again showcases the network’s ability to perform live network-wide updates without any issue. It has been reported that a total of $1.7 billion has been withdrawn since the Shanghai and Capella upgrades went live. However, as round 2 of withdrawals began, the value of Ethereum withdrawn increased. Round 1 took 4.14 days to complete as validators in the queue were processed. As of press time, 18,442,455 ETH is currently staked, with a value of $38.5 billion.
With the withdrawals now open, investors have been withdrawing their initial capital and the earned rewards. Staked Ethereum earns interest over time, and when a validator earns over 32 ETH through rewards, the excess amount does not add to their principal. Instead, it gets withdrawn automatically as a reward payment every few days. The staking rewards began around 15% and were put on a predefined falling curve relative to the number of validator participants until the Merge.
The current validator reward is 4.33%, including consensus rewards and transaction fees. These rewards spiked to around 5.2% in the days leading up to the upgrade but have since returned to their downward trajectory. Total staking rewards have fallen by 1.4% since the Merge last September when they jumped to 5.8% from 4.3%. In addition to the change in deposits, withdrawals, and rewards, the average value of Ethereum staked with validators has reduced since withdrawals opened. As a result, 54.3% of stakers are now in profit with ETH around $2,000.
Ultimately, both the Shanghai and Capella upgrades appear to have been a success, as the network is processing new deposits, principal withdrawals, and reward payments without any significant issues. Furthermore, these actions are being performed on a volume of billions of dollars worth of Ethereum daily. While blockchain networks can still be considered to be in beta in many ways, Ethereum’s ability to undertake such enormous undertakings of live network upgrades without issue is highly encouraging for the industry.
