Author: Estefano Gomez
Compiled by: Shenchao TechFlow
Deep tide introduction: In early October, the withdrawal queue of Ethereum validators soared by about 392%, with a peak queue of nearly 850,000 ETH and a waiting time of about 14.77 days; of which about 523,000 came from the preventive withdrawal of MetaMask Staking after the infrastructure was invaded, and was heavily associated with Lido operations. For ETH and LSD position holders, this is a hard signal that short-term selling pressure has been extended and that single-point infrastructure decisions can affect a larger pledge pool.
A security scare from MetaMask staking, compounded by what appeared to be a profit-cashing operation, pushed Ethereum validator exit queues to their highest level this year.
According to data circulating on X, Ethereum undeposits have jumped 392% since the beginning of October. By October 2, approximately 850,000 ETH were queued to leave the network’s validator set.
This is the longest exit queue Ethereum has seen all year. It happened the same week: MetaMask Staking informed users that part of its infrastructure had been compromised.
What's driving the exit ranks
As of October 2, the estimated exit wait time has reached approximately 14.77 days. In late September, the withdrawal volume was still at a low to medium level of about 100,000 ETH.
The peak value of the queue is approximately 850,000 to 850,736 ETH. There are about 43.6 million ETH pledged on the entire network, and there are about 878,000 active validators. Therefore, the amount to be exited is close to 2% of the entire pledged supply.
MetaMask Staking event
On September 30, MetaMask Staking disclosed that its infrastructure had been compromised. The block reward of approximately 0.36 ETH spanning 18 blocks was briefly transferred. MetaMask said that user wallets and sensitive data were not affected.
MetaMask immediately arranged to withdraw nearly 17,000 validators, holding a total of approximately 523,000 ETH, a considerable part of which was bound to Lido’s operations. The withdrawal is being characterized as a precautionary measure and is expected to be completed by October 7.
Of the approximately 850,000 ETH queued to exit, approximately 523,000 came from MetaMask’s validators alone.
Not all hedging
Jiang Zhuoer, founder of the Litecoin mining pool, said the jump in the queue suggested that some holders were taking advantage of the current price to lock in profits.
The price has barely moved
From September 30 to October 2, ETH traded in a tight range from $2,686 to $2,725. The wait time is nearly 14.77 days, meaning any sales will be spread out rather than being hit on the market all at once.
What this means for stakers and the market
MetaMask’s exit is expected to be completed by October 7. Once cleared, the queue should shrink significantly unless there are new exits on top.
Since a significant portion of the staking exits were related to Lido operations, this incident highlights that the decisions of a single infrastructure partner can affect a much larger pool of staked ETH.
There are still approximately 43.6 million ETH staked on approximately 878,000 validators. Even at peak times, dequeues are only a small part of this total.