The total amount staked on the Ethereum network has surpassed 32 million ETH, representing 26.7% of the total supply. Among them, the liquid staking protocol Lido Finance accounts for about 32% of the market share, raising community concerns about decentralization.
Staking Data Overview
Since Ethereum completed the Merge in September 2022 and transitioned to proof‑of‑stake (PoS), the amount staked has continued to rise:
- Total staked: 32,150,000 ETH (≈ $64 billion)
- Active validators: over 1,004,000
- Annual yield: about 3.2%
- Staking share: 26.7% of total supply
Lido's Monopoly Controversy
Lido Finance, as the largest liquid staking protocol, manages more than 10 million ETH of staked assets. Ethereum Foundation researcher Danny Ryan has repeatedly warned that an excessively high share for a single protocol could pose a threat to network security.
Supporters argue that Lido’s operator nodes are distributed across more than 20 independent entities, limiting the actual centralization risk. Critics, however, point out that the governance token LDO of the Lido DAO is concentrated in the hands of a few large holders, creating a potential governance attack vector.
Alternative Solutions for Decentralized Staking
To address centralization risks, the community is promoting several alternative solutions:
- Rocket Pool (rETH): permissionless decentralized staking, anyone can run a node
- Distributed Validation Technology (DVT): Obol and SSV Network are developing multi‑party validation schemes
- EigenLayer restaking: allows already staked ETH to simultaneously provide security for other protocols
Impact on Investors
The continued rise in ETH staking rate means fewer ETH are available for circulation, creating deflationary pressure from a supply‑demand perspective. Combined with the EIP‑1559 burning mechanism, ETH’s inflation rate has dropped to near zero or even a deflationary state.
⚠️ Risk Warning: Cryptocurrency investments carry a very high risk. This article does not constitute investment advice.
