In 2026, the total market capitalization of crypto assets rebounded above $3 trillion, but Bitcoin's dominance once dropped below 60%, reigniting discussions about the "altcoin season." Ethereum's movements are even more worth noting; it has already surpassed $3,200, a significant increase from its lows at the end of last year. It is still 34% below the all-time high of $4,700 set in September 2025, but on-chain signals are starting to become interesting.

The most critical change appears in the staking queue. This indicator has shown a clear "shift from attack to defense" for the first time this year, transitioning from a large number of unstaking proposals to active locking, reflecting a shift in market sentiment. In mid-September last year, when Ethereum's price surged near $4,700, the market saw 2.66 million ETH leaving staking pools, creating selling pressure that lasted for several months. Now, over three months later, only about 80,000 ETH remain waiting to exit, and the selling pressure has essentially dissipated.

Interestingly, on the other end of the data spectrum, the amount of ETH waiting to be staked has surged to 900,000–1,000,000, more than doubling from 410,000 at the end of December, with an increase rate of nearly 120%. This indicates that the demand to lock up assets is now 15 times higher than the demand to exit, directly extending the validator activation waiting period to 17 days.

Currently, the total staked ETH on Ethereum has reached 35.5 million, accounting for 28.91% of the circulating supply, with the annualized yield remaining stable. This shift may be signaling the brewing of a structural market cycle.