Record redemption of $1.6 billion staked Ethereum led by Chelsea and Figment

More than 650,000 staked Ethereum worth about $1.6 billion was redeemed last week. This is the largest repayment since the Shanghai upgrade was completed last year.

According to a Dune Analytics dashboard shared by 21 Shares analyst Tom Wan, bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Chelsea and staking service provider Figment were the main reasons for this significant surge in redemptions. Together, they orchestrated withdrawals of a total of 563,300 staked ETH, representing a whopping 85% of total redemptions during the reporting period.

CryptoSlate It highlighted the role these companies played in driving Ethereum’s validator exit to an all-time high of over 16,000 validators on January 5th. At the time, the two companies were planning to remove over 550,000 validators, accounting for approximately 75% of total withdrawals in the queue. I staked Ethereum.

Celsius previously revealed plans to unstake 206,300 ETH, worth about $470 million, as part of its bankruptcy proceedings. The failed lender said the withdrawals would be used to facilitate distribution of assets to creditors.

Figment, on the other hand, withdrew a significant amount of over 350,000 staked ETH on behalf of its customers.

Following these significant withdrawals, the total amount of staked Ethereum now stands at 28.9 million, according to Nansen’s Ethereum Shanghai (Shapella) upgrade dashboard.

ETH price will not be affected.

Staked Ethereum withdrawal activity has not had a negative impact on ETH’s price performance over the past week. That’s because the value of the digital asset rose by about 12% to a peak of $2700, the highest since May 2022.

Suggestions that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may approve a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) after similar approval for a Bitcoin ETF contributed to this upward price movement.

Larry Fink, CEO of asset management firm BlackRock, further fueled the optimism when he told CNBC that he saw “value in holding an Ethereum ETF.”

According to data from Polymarket, approximately 55% of platform bets expect Ethereum ETF approval by the end of May.