The second-largest blockchain (ETH) has achieved yet another significant milestone following Ethereum’s successful conversion to a proof-of-stake network. Data from Etherscan reveals that more than 16 million ether (ETH) have been deposited into the Beacon Chain staking contract on Ethereum. The 16 million ETH figure is almost $22.38 billion at the current pricing and more than 13.28% of the whole ether supply. It happens almost two years to the day after the Beacon Chain proof-of-stake network was created and Ethereum’s staking contract went live in 2020.
The Ethereum network’s validators “stake” ETH in exchange for the opportunity to add authenticated transactions to the blockchain’s ledger. A community-driven validator collective called Lido has staked almost 4.65 million of the 16 million ETH that have been staked. The top four Ethereum validators, Lido, Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance, control 55.88% of all ETH staked. Since the Merge in September, when Ethereum abandoned its previous proof-of-work consensus process, the number of ETH staked has increased by around 16.68%.