Ethereum Staking Exit Backlog Eases After MetaMask Incident Sparks Peak Queue of 851,000 ETH

Ethereum's staking exit queue stood near 786,000 ETH, valued at about $2.1 billion, easing from a 2026 peak of 851,000 ETH reached on October 2. The unstaking surge was driven largely by MetaMask Staking exiting nearly 17,000 validators holding approximately 523,000 ETH following a September 30 infrastructure security issue. Processing delays extended to 14.77 days under Ethereum's daily exit churn limit of roughly 57,600 ETH. Meanwhile, network entry demand remains higher, with approximately 1.5 million ETH waiting to enter the validator set, while ETH traded near $2,720.