On-chain data shows that the once crowded queue of new validators on the Ethereum blockchain has almost completely emptied, with only 598 validators currently waiting to enter the network, down from a peak of more than 96,000 in early June. This means that as of today, the expected wait time for adding a new validator to the Ethereum network has dropped to less than five hours, a significant drop from the peak of 45-day waiting periods in early June.
David Lawant, head of research at institutional crypto exchange FalconX, said that ETH staking growth has been “exceptionally strong” since the Ethereum merger and Shapella upgrade, but the initial enthusiasm has started to cool down, and an empty activation queue means that the growth of staking ETH has slowed down.
