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I noticed that BlackRock just lowered its staking fees on its Ethereum ETF, dropping from 18% to 10%.
It's clearly a reaction to the massive demand we're seeing right now for staking rewards.
Institutions want yields, and apparently everyone is chasing those 3% rewards at the moment.
What’s interesting is that staked ETH has reached 37 million tokens for the first time, accounting for over 30% of the total supply.
The validator queue far exceeds the exits, with more than 3 million ETH waiting to enter.
This shows real demand, not just hype.
But here’s the thing, Culper Research is issuing a warning: recent network upgrades reduce validator yields and could weaken this dynamic.
Less yield = less interest in staking.
They even note that the number of active validators is starting to decline, which could be a warning sign.
They are even taking a short position on ETH because of this.
On the other hand, Vitalik remains optimistic, stating that upcoming improvements will reduce validator operating costs.
As I write this, ETH is hovering around $2.32k, but the trend will really depend on how institutions react to these technical changes and broader macroeconomic conditions.
The question remains: is ETH staking still an asset or is it becoming a problem?