Around 166,000 ETH was waiting to leave Ethereum staking on September 29. Just three days later, the figure had jumped to approximately 851,000 ETH on October 2, the highest level recorded so far in 2026 and well above the previous peak of around 476,000 ETH reached in May.
By October 5, the exit queue had started to decline but still contained approximately 767,000–786,000 ETH, worth more than $2.0 billion at the time, with an estimated waiting period of almost two weeks. The October 2 peak represented roughly 2% of the approximately 43.6 million ETH staked on Ethereum.
The backlog has since fallen further. By October 6, Ethereum validator data showed around 450,000 ETH remaining in the exit queue, with an estimated waiting time of roughly eight days before validators reach exited status.
MetaMask security incident drives validator exits
The sharp increase does not appear to represent a broad withdrawal from Ethereum staking. Most of the additional exit demand is linked to MetaMask Staking, formerly known as Consensys Staking.
On September 30, MetaMask disclosed a security incident affecting part of its infrastructure and said it had begun proactively exiting affected validators as a precaution. The company said its investigation had found no indication that MetaMask wallets or customer funds had been compromised.
Ethereum security researcher Kaden estimated that the operation could involve roughly 17,000 validators holding about 523,000 ETH. MetaMask has not officially confirmed those figures.
The incident appears to have affected payments received by validators when producing Ethereum blocks. According to the researcher's analysis, 18 of 19 MetaMask-operated validators examined during the affected period sent block-production payments to an unexpected address, redirecting approximately 0.36 ETH in rewards.
However, this is different from an attacker gaining control of the ETH being staked. MetaMask operates its staking service on a non-custodial basis and does not control customers' withdrawal keys. On-chain analysis has also found no evidence that the affected validators were slashed.
Lido expects ETH to return to staking
MetaMask is also one of the validator operators working with Lido, Ethereum's largest liquid staking protocol. The decision to exit a large number of validators therefore quickly increased the network's unstaking queue.
As covered in our previous report on Lido's Ethereum staking infrastructure, the protocol relies on multiple independent node operators to distribute validator activity and reduce concentration risk.
Lido expects the final affected MetaMask validators to complete the validator exit stage by the end of October 7. This does not mean that all of the ETH will be immediately available, as the assets must then complete the withdrawal process before being placed back into Ethereum's staking entry queue.
According to Lido, the complete validator exit, ETH withdrawal and re-staking cycle could take up to approximately 45 days because of the extended entry queue. During the period when the ETH is outside the active validator set, the affected stake will not generate normal staking rewards.
Lido said stETH holders do not need to take any action and expects most of the ETH withdrawn from MetaMask-operated validators to gradually return to staking after the security issue has been addressed.
Why Ethereum staking queues can become so long
The extended waiting period is a result of Ethereum's own security mechanisms. The network limits how quickly validators can enter or leave the active validator set in order to prevent large amounts of ETH from moving simultaneously and abruptly changing the network's security structure.
At the current churn limit, approximately 57,600 ETH can enter staking each day, while a similar amount can leave. When demand exceeds this capacity, validators are placed in a queue. After a validator exits, its ETH must also pass through an additional withdrawal process before the funds become available at the withdrawal address.
While the exit queue surged following the MetaMask incident, there is still substantial demand on the other side of the network. As of October 6, approximately 1.4 million ETH is waiting to enter staking, corresponding to an estimated processing time of nearly 25 days. This remains below the roughly 2.0 million ETH and approximately 35-day waiting period recorded in early September.
The contrasting queues suggest that the MetaMask-related exits are primarily an operator-specific technical event rather than evidence of a broad loss of confidence in Ethereum staking.
At the time of publication, ETH is trading near $2,700, remaining broadly stable over the past 24 hours.
