Prior to The Merge, Ethereum used to have dozens upon dozens of mining pools dedicating hashrate toward the blockchain network. This has changed, and many miners have switched to Ethash compatible coins, such as ethereum classic, ERGO and the new fork ETHW. Now Ethereum blocks are verified by validators and at the time of writing, there are 429,278 validators. However, a great deal of the 13.7 million staked ethereum is held by four known providers.
4 Known Providers Hold 59% of the Staked Ethereum Today
Bitcoin.com News reported on Lido possessing 30% of the staked ether four days ago. On September 15, the Twitter account Checkmate, the lead onchain analyst at Glassnode, wrote about the entities currently holding the lion’s share of today’s staked ETH. “We profiled a few more entities,” Checkmate wrote to someone discussing Lido’s holdings. Checkmate said data shows that there’s 13.7 million staked ETH and 10 million ether is held by known providers. That equates to 73% of the staked ETH, and the top four providers hold 8. 13 million ETH or 59.3% of the aggregate.
“4. 17M in Lido, 1. 92M in Coinbase, 1. 14M in Kraken, [and] 0.9M in Binance,” Checkmate said. The popular bitcoiner Tuur DeMeester, editor at satoshipapers.org, shared the tweet of the Glassnode analyst. “44% of ETH is staked by just 2 entities, Lido [and] Coinbase. Add Kraken, and it jumps to 52% of total ETH staked by 3 entities,” Demeester wrote. The editor also mocked a tweet written by Vitalik Buterin which talks about the idea of having average users validate the system.
SEC Chair Gensler Hints at Taking Another Look at Staking Coins, Jack Dorsey Shares Anti-PoS Editorial, Ethereum Proponents Believe People Are Getting Ahead of Themselves
Gensler spoke recently about how the Howey test and the staking of coins. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Gensler said: “From the coin’s perspective … that’s another indicia that under the Howey test, the investing public is anticipating profits based on the efforts of others.” While the WSJ said Gensler remarked that he wasn’t referring to any cryptocurrency in particular, many crypto enthusiasts assumed the SEC chair was discussing ethereum (ETH) and PoS coins.
BREAKING: Gary Gensler says using of Proof-of-Stake could trigger securities laws.
In mid-August, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong was questioned by a user if the exchange would censor at ethereum protocol levels with validators. The user inquired if he would censor at the Ethereum protocol level with his validators.
Armstrong responded three days later and said: “It’s a hypothetical we hopefully won’t actually face. We’d choose (B) if we had to. We need to see the larger picture. There may be some better option (C) or a legal challenge as well that could help reach a better outcome.”
Many people think that validators may be forced to conform with regulations and censorship. With four centralized entities staking the most ethereum (ETH) today, people have concerns about whether or not validators will be centralized and censor transactions. On September 14, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey shared an editorial published on substack.com that criticizes PoS. The substack.com article is written by Scott Sullivan and it claims that “to be a validator is to live every day walking on [eggshells]” and “PoS is a permissioned system.”
Most of the criticism comes from bitcoiners, who are sometimes called bitcoin maximalists. Ethereum proponents think the idea is absurd and one supporter noted that he would simply jump to an ETH chain that doesn’t censor transactions. Ryan Adams tweeted: “Guys,” “[the U.S. government] doesn’t want to censor [ethereum] validators at the moment. We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. But, if they ever do, I’ll be on Ethereum’s fork that doesn’t censor transactions. It’s that simple. Adams explained that Layer 0 is our security level.
Bitcoin supporter and blogger, Eric Wall, published a Twitter thread on September 16 that details in the case of Lido staking, “Lido isn’t even a pool.” Wall further remarks in his thread that “Lido can’t decide what blocks anyone of their underlying node operators mine.” Wall does disclose that he’s an LDO investor, as lido dao (LDO) is the native governance token for the Lido Finance project.
“Lido cannot fire or remove any stake holders. Not more than 13.1% of Lido validators are based in a single country. Wall adds that the geographic distribution is quite impressive.
What do you think about the criticism against Ethereum and the validators censoring transactions?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Jamie Redman
Jamie Redman, a journalist and financial tech expert living in Florida, is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. Redman is passionate about Bitcoin, open-source codes, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 6,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Banteg, Alex Svanevik, Checkmate, Twitter,
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Ethereum Bulls Face $185M in Liquidations as ETH Price Slumps to 2-Month Low
Amid the broader market’s correction yet again today, ETH’s price has taken a major hit and tumbled below $3,000 for the first time since early November.
This has caused a lot of liquidations for over-leveraged bulls, with the number skyrocketing to nearly $200 million only for ETH-related positions.
As the graph above demonstrates, the second-largest cryptocurrency broke above $3,000 after the US elections in early November and didn’t look back for the next two months.
Moreover, the asset peaked at just over $4,100 on December 16, but that was as far as it could go. During the end-of-the-year crash, ETH slumped to $3,100 but managed to defend the $3,000 support.
It bounced off and went on the offensive at the start of 2025. Its yearly peak came on January 7 when it jumped to $3,750. However, that’s when the landscape took a turn for the worse, and ETH, alongside the rest of the market, started to plunge.
The subsequent rejection drove Ethereum’s price to $3,300, where it spent most of the next few days. However, another leg down initiated by the bears today pushed it south even further, and it slipped below $3,000 minutes ago for the first time since early November.
ETH is down by precisely 20% since its January 7 high (or $750 in USD perspective). Today’s drop was particularly painful for over-leveraged traders with long positions, as the total such liquidations has gone up to $185 million, according to CoinGlass.
In fact, ETH’s liquidations have surpassed even those for BTC, whose price tumbled from $96,000 earlier this morning to under $90,000 briefly.
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Post-US Election Honeymoon Ends as Macroeconomic Data Drives Markets
Digital asset investment products saw modest inflows of $48 million last week. While nearly $1 billion flowed in during the early part of the week, outflows of $940 million in the latter half reversed much of the gains. This shift followed the release of new macroeconomic data and the Federal Reserve’s minutes, which signaled a stronger US economy and a more hawkish stance.
According to CoinShares, this could indicate that the post-US election honeymoon has ended, with macroeconomic indicators regaining their influence on asset prices.
The latest edition of ‘Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly Report’ revealed that Bitcoin attracted $214 million in inflows last week, maintaining its lead as the best-performing digital asset with $799 million in inflows year-to-date, despite also seeing the largest outflows later in the week. Inflows to short Bitcoin products stood at $1.8 million.
Ethereum, on the other hand, struggled the most, with $256 million flowing out, which CoinShares attributes to a general tech sector downturn rather than asset-specific concerns. Solana, by contrast, remained strong, pulling in $15 million in new investments.
XRP amassed significant inflows of $41 million last week, driven largely by political and legal developments. The inflows reflect growing optimism as the January 15th SEC appeal deadline approaches.
Multi-asset products followed suit with $21.1 million in inflows. Interestingly, altcoins attracted investments despite lackluster price performance. Leading the way were Aave, Stellar, and Polkadot, which recorded inflows of $2.9 million, $2.7 million, and $1.6 million, respectively. Additionally, Cardano, Litecoin, and Chainlink also saw inflows of $1.2 million, $0.7 million, and $0.4 million, respectively, during the same period.
Switzerland Tops Outflows
In terms of geography, the US stood out with $79 million in inflows, followed by Germany with $52.4 million over the past week. Canada, Brazil, and Australia also observed inflows of $37.1 million, $21.9 million, and $10.3 million, respectively.
Switzerland saw the highest outflow for the week, recording $85.3 million. A similar sentiment was seen across Hong Kong and Sweden as the two countries witnessed outflows of $36.6 million and $33.2 million, respectively.
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Ethereum Price Analysis: What’s Ahead for ETH After a 9% Weekly Dip?
Ethereum currently rests at a notable support region near $3.2K, with market participants closely observing the potential for a bullish rebound.
The Funding Rates metric offers valuable insights into the sentiment within the perpetual futures markets, helping to gauge the likelihood of a recovery.
Ethereum has seen consistent declines following its rejection at the $4K resistance level, indicating the dominance of sellers. Most recently, another sharp decline pushed the price toward a substantial support zone, defined by the 100-day moving average of $3.1K.
This dynamic support is critical as demand concentration near this region is expected to curb downward momentum, with a bullish rebound being plausible if buying interest emerges.
Currently, ETH is trapped between the 100-day MA ($3.1K) and the $3.5K resistance level, forming a tight consolidation range. A decisive move in either direction will likely determine the mid-term trend.
The 4-Hour Chart
On the 4-hour timeframe, Ethereum broke down from an ascending wedge pattern, a bearish structure that typically signals further declines. This breakdown triggered a swift sell-off, pushing the price toward a support zone defined by the 0.5-0.618 Fibonacci retracement levels.
This support zone has the potential to stabilize the price and possibly initiate a short-term bullish rebound. However, persistent bearish pressure could result in a break below this line, intensifying the downtrend.
If Ethereum breaches this critical support zone, it may trigger panic selling, further strengthening sellers’ dominance. Conversely, a sustained rebound could pave the way for a recovery toward the $3.5K resistance level.
Examining the chart, the recent market correction has coincided with a significant decline in funding rates. This shift suggests growing bearish sentiment among speculators, with many traders betting on further decreases in ETH’s price.
However, upon reaching the substantial support zone at $3K, the Funding Rates metric has started to show signs of recovery. A notable bullish spike in the metric suggests an influx of buying interest as market participants begin to open long positions in anticipation of a price rebound.
If this recovery in funding rates continues, it could indicate sustained demand and the potential for a bullish rebound from the $3K support. On the other hand, if the current recovery loses momentum or reverses, it would signal a return to bearish sentiment, paving the way for a deeper correction.
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