Ethereum staking hits record 43.8 million ETH as yields slip

More than a third of all Ether is now locked up and working. According to Bitwise, 43.8 million ETH was staked by the end of the third quarter of 2026, representing 35.9% of total supply. That is the largest amount of staked ETH ever recorded. And it arrived during a quarter when the reward for staking actually got smaller. Inside the Bitwise numbers The figures come from Bitwise’s Q4 2026 Staking Report, published on October 20, 2026. The report covers staking activity through the end of Q3. Net inflows into staking reached 1.99 million ETH during the quarter. That marks the sixth consecutive quarter in which more ETH entered staking than left it. The catch sits on the yield side. Bitwise reported that gross staking yield fell to 2.63% in Q3, down from 2.81% in the previous quarter. The third notable number moved in the opposite direction. The count of active validators dropped to 881,000, down from approximately 1.1 million. Bitwise attributed the decline to operator consolidation following the Pectra upgrade, which made validators more efficient. The same staked ETH is now being run through fewer, larger validator setups, rather than many small ones. How staking got here in 2026...