Renowned on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant’s CEO, Ki Young Ju, has revised his perspective on the Ethereum (ETH) ecosystem, acknowledging the surprising resilience of the Shapella hard fork. The latest data shared by Ju reveals a surge in the Ethereum staking ratio to 24%, defying expectations of mass unstaking following the Shapella upgrade activated in April 2023.
As of January 18, 2024, only 11% of the total ETH supply resides on centralized exchanges, indicating a substantial shift towards staking. The Shapella hard fork, which allowed stakers to withdraw their coins for the first time since December 2020, did not lead to the anticipated massive sell-offs. Despite stakers withdrawing 1 million ETH in the first week post-Shapella, the ETH price maintained stability, fluctuating between $2,000 and $2,100.
According to Ki Young Ju, staked ETH is proving to be highly profitable, with a realized price for staking inflows at $2,014 and the current ETH rate at $2,519. This translates to an average Ether stake enjoying a significant 25% profit. The Ethereum staking ecosystem boasts an aggregated volume estimated at a remarkable $72 billion, offering a 4.25% Annual Percentage Yield (APY), as per Staking Rewards data.
In a potentially historic development, Cardano (ADA) is inching closer to a “flippening” with Solana (SOL), Ethereum’s leading competitor. Solana‘s staking ratio has experienced a significant decline of over 20% in the last week, falling below 67%. Meanwhile, ADA’s staking ecosystem has grown by 0.06% in the past seven days, nearing a 64% staking ratio. Despite ADA’s progress, Solana maintains a USD-denominated staking volume over 200% larger than that of Cardano.
Among mainstream altcoins, Mina Protocol (MINA) takes the lead with the largest staking ratio, with stakers locking over 91% of the circulating supply. Following closely are Aptos (APT) and Sui (SUI) with staking ratios ranging from 85% to 86%.
