Ethereum enters "Scarcity Mode"
Staking sets historic records with 30% of the supply locked by institutions
The network
#Ethereum has reached a structural turning point on January 14, 2026. For the first time in history, the amount of
#ETH deposited in the staking contract has surpassed 36 million tokens, equivalent to nearly 30% of the entire circulating supply.
With a valuation exceeding $118 billion, this wall of locked capital is transforming ETH into the safest and, at the same time, the scarcest asset in the ecosystem.
Aggressive Institutional Dominance: The growth is not retail-driven, but corporate.
#Bitmine Immersion, the treasury firm led by Wall Street veteran Tom Lee, has doubled its bet in just one week. The firm now holds 3.45% of the entire ETH supply (4.17 million ETH), of which 1.25 million are already generating staking yields.
Waiting List vs. Selling Pressure: While 2.3 million ETH are waiting in line to enter the validation system, the withdrawal queue (those wanting to exit their ETH) remains at historic lows. This confirms that institutions are not here to speculate short-term, but to capture native yield.
Lido maintains the throne: Despite the entry of new players,
#LidoFinance still controls 24% of the staking market, solidifying its position as the preferred liquidity layer for those seeking yield without sacrificing the ability to use their assets in DeFi.
Price impact: With nearly one-third of the total supply locked, "floating liquidity" on exchanges is drastically reduced. In a scenario of growing demand (such as the ETF inflows we are witnessing), this illiquidity typically acts as an upward multiplier for the price.
#Ethereum✅ $ETH $LDO