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Kraken Leads Ether Unstaking Parade, Makes up 62% of Exit Queue
Crypto exchange Kraken agreed to shut down its U.S. crypto staking service in February as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
By Sam Reynolds
Updated Apr 13, 2023, 6:27 p.m. Published Apr 13, 2023, 7:04 a.m.
Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade went live Thursday, Asia time, allowing those that have staked their ether to begin the withdrawal process.
On-chain data tracked by Rated network explorer shows that of all the validators moving to unstake, Kraken leads with 62% of the exit queue breakdown. The number of validators in the exit queue has surpassed the 15,000 mark at press time, per Parsec Finance.
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Kraken’s dominance of the unstaking queue is largely expected, given the legal issues it has faced in the U.S. with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In February, the SEC determined Kraken’s staking offerings – but not other staking programs – to be unregistered securities.
“The complaint alleges that Kraken touts that its staking investment program offers an easy-to-use platform and benefits that derive from Kraken’s efforts on behalf of investors, including Kraken’s strategies to obtain regular investment returns and payouts,” the SEC said in a release from February.
Kraken ended up settling with the SEC for $30 million.
Overall, the Shanghai upgrade appears only to have had a marginal effect on the Ethereum protocol and its token. On-chain data suggests that very little ether has been withdrawn, with only a -0.25% change in staked ether, according to Nansen.ai data.
In March, CryptoQuant noted that 60% of all staked ether is held at a loss and suggested that the selling pressure on ether would be low after the Shanghai upgrade.
Nansen's Andrew Thurman noted on Twitter that "the majority of withdrawals are [addresses] withdrawing their rewards, not their rewards and full stake."
More recent data from Nansen shows that the average price of staked ether on Lido is worth $2,552. Liquid staking system Lido makes up around 31% of all ether deposits.
Data shows that 4.35 million ether, or about 24%, is staked at above $3000, a price point not seen since April 2022.
Ether is currently trading for $1,916, according to CoinDesk pricing data.
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