Share this article
Only 31% of Staked Ether May Be Profitable: Binance Research
Around 2 million ETH were staked when prices were in the range of $400 to $600. These stakers are some of the strongest Ethereum believers, according to Binance Research.
Updated Feb 17, 2023, 3:08 p.m. Published Feb 16, 2023, 1:17 p.m.
Analysis by Binance Research has found that a notable minority of ether holders who staked their ETH in Ethereum's Beacon Chain over the past three years are making money, while the rest are underwater.
Ethereum staking involves users locking their ETH tokens to validate transactions in return for a reward paid out in ether. Staking, therefore, is referred to as passive investing – coins lying dormant in self-custody or in an exchange wallet to use. Currently, onchain annualized staking yields are around 4%.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
More than 16.5 million ether, worth $27.7 billion, has been staked since Beacon Chain went live in December 2020, of which 31% or 5.115 million ETH are in profit while the rest, 11.385 million ETH, are in loss, according to Binance Research.
The loss here means ether's current going market rate is less than the rate prevalent when they were locked in the Beacon chain.
The analysis comes at a time the market is trying to gauge potential selling pressure following Ethereum's Shanghai upgrade, scheduled for mid-March. The highly anticipated upgrade is set to open withdrawals of staked ETH.
Per Binance Research, those underwater have little incentive to liquidate their holdings after the Shanghai upgrade. Meanwhile, those in profit are likely to keep holding.
"We note a sizable amount of ETH (around 2M) was staked at prices in the US$400-$700 range – this represents the earliest stakers in [December] 2020 – a group that is likely illiquid given that liquid staking was far less known at the time," Binance Research noted in the report published early Thursday.
"While this is a considerable chunk of staked ETH and is currently at profit, given these were the earliest stakers in the market, we can imagine these are some of the strongest Ethereum believers," Binance Research said.
Note that the whole staking balance cannot be withdrawn on the day of the upgrade. Besides, only 43,200 ETH can be unstaked per day. However, the total staking reward earned, which comes to around 1 million ETH, can be withdrawn instantly, according to Saxo Bank.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates 25 Basis Points, With Two Members Voting for Steady Policy
The anticipated move comes as policymakers are still operating without several key economic data releases that remain delayed or suspended due to the U.S. government shutdown.
What to know:
- As expected, the Federal Reserve trimmed its benchmark fed funds rate range by 25 basis points on Wednesday afternoon.
- Today's cut is notable given the unusually large amount of public dissension among Fed members for further monetary ease.
- Two Fed members dissented from the rate cut, preferring instead to hold rates steady, while one member voted for a 50 basis point rate cut.
Top Stories
