What If Ethereum Unstaking Surge: Does It Lead to Sell Bomb?

Ethereum prices slipped after hitting a near record last week, with analysts warning that a surge of unstaked coins could weigh on the market later this month.

The cryptocurrency rose from $3,698 at the start of August to $4,788 last Thursday, its highest level in four years. But as of 9 am UTC on Monday, it had dropped to $4,260 — a 10% pullback after an almost 30% two-week rally.

ETH Unstaking Wait Time Jumps from 25 to 40 Days

The sharp gains triggered heavy unstaking activity. On-chain data provider said that on Aug 9 alone, the Ethereum exit queue was so congested that processing times extended to about 25 days.

The unstaking process involves two main steps: the Exit Queue and the Withdrawal Queue. The Exit Queue is when a validator requests to exit their role on the network. The Withdrawal Queue is the subsequent step where the unstaked ETH is transferred back to the user’s wallet. Usually, unstaking takes just two to three days.

The queue has continued to grow. This backlog reflects the growing number of validators looking to offload their ETH at a higher price.

X Influencer noted that the ETH validator exit queue doubled to $3.7 billion in four days. As of Aug 18, Rated’s data showed more than 1.075 million ETH waiting to exit, stretching processing times to 40 days. By contrast, staking new ETH takes less than five days.

Ethereum Network Overview. Source: Rated

Unstaking requests began accelerating around Aug 6, meaning some coins could hit user wallets by Aug 25. Analysts caution that prices could fall further if buyers fail to absorb the new supply.

Still, some market watchers see a balance between inflows and outflows. X Influencer said that while about 600,000 ETH net outflows remain significant, the market has weathered similar conditions before. On July 26, a comparable backlog preceded a 20% rally over the following two weeks.