Ethereum’s [ETH] got two completely different sides to its narrative today. While long-term confidence is stronger than ever before, price is still in freefall, crashing through to the bottom.
More ETH is being locked away than ever before
For the first time in its history, the network’s proof-of-stake (PoS) contract now holds more than half of the total ETH supply. Data per Santiment showed over 80.95 million ETH (about 50.18% of supply) locked in staking!
Holders are clearly committing to securing the network.
The staking contract essentially works like a one-way vault.
When users stake ETH, those coins leave normal circulation and cannot be spent or sold until they are withdrawn later. This reduces the liquid supply in the market.
One must note that growth in staking often speeds up during the quiet, when investors prefer earning yield over active trading.
Big players are building on Ethereum
Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) on Ethereum have now crossed $17 billion, which is roughly 300% year-over-year growth. This is in line with demand for blockchain versions of private credit, treasuries, and commodities.
Major financial players, including BlackRock, JPMorgan, and Franklin Templeton, are already experimenting with tokenized products on Ethereum.
Forecasts for RWAs are ambitious, with Standard Chartered having estimated that RWAs could reach $2 trillion by 2028. ARK Invest projected up to $11 trillion by 2030. With Ethereum at the center of all this, growth is expected.
All this and yet...
...ETH price refuses to flinch.
The token slipped below the $2,000 level and was trading around $1,995 at press time, at multi-month lows. That drop makes the staking numbers and activity look almost disconnected from market sentiment in the short term.
ETH moved sideways after the decline, while momentum indicators stayed neutral. Traders are cautious, even with strong fundamentals.
Final Summary
- Over 50% of the ETH supply is locked in staking now!
- Institutional involvement in Ethereum is growing faster than market sentiment.
