crypto

Sage D. Young1/14/26

A record 36 million ethereum tokens are now dedicated to staking

The number of ethereum tokens dedicated to staking, the duty to defend the blockchain, has ascended to a high-water mark.

Stakers, who provide security to the network, akin to soldiers in an army according to cofounder Vitalik Buterin, have devoted roughly 36 million tokens — 30% of ethereum’s total supply — to staking, per on-chain data from blockchain explorer beaconcha.in. At current prices, those tokens are worth $119.3 billion.

The new record comes as institutional players grow their share in the staking scene. Ether.fi, a restaking protocol known for its crypto-powered credit card, has added 276,288 tokens in the past month toward security, while leading ethereum treasury firm BitMine Immersion Technologies increased its total staked ETH from 659,219 to 1,256,083 tokens last week, a 90% climb.

Meanwhile, the entry queue stands at 2,348,580 ethereum tokens, making the current wait time to begin staking 40 days and 19 hours.

Ether.fi CEO and cofounder Mike Silagadze told Sherwood News the increase in its staked ethereum comes from institutional deposits, specifically from large family offices and SharpLink Gaming, the second-largest ethereum treasury firm.

The native token for ethereum has seen over $38.5 billion in trading volume in the past 24 hours, with its price jumping more than 6% in that period.

Ethereum staking hits all-time high with almost 30% of ETH supply locked

Ethereum staking hits all-time high with almost 30% of ETH supply locked

The new record comes as institutional players grow their share in the staking scene. Ether.fi, a restaking protocol known for its crypto-powered credit card, has added 276,288 tokens in the past month toward security, while leading ethereum treasury firm BitMine Immersion Technologies increased its total staked ETH from 659,219 to 1,256,083 tokens last week, a 90% climb.

Meanwhile, the entry queue stands at 2,348,580 ethereum tokens, making the current wait time to begin staking 40 days and 19 hours.

Ether.fi CEO and cofounder Mike Silagadze told Sherwood News the increase in its staked ethereum comes from institutional deposits, specifically from large family offices and SharpLink Gaming, the second-largest ethereum treasury firm.

The native token for ethereum has seen over $38.5 billion in trading volume in the past 24 hours, with its price jumping more than 6% in that period.

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US-CRYPTOCURRENCY-CLIMATE-EMPLOYMENT-CHINA

Sage D. Young1h

Crypto money laundering activity totaled more than $82 billion in 2025, more than 8x higher than 2020’s figure of $10 billion, according to a Tuesday report published by crypto analytics firm Chainalysis. Chinese-language networks dominated the ecosystem, accounting for roughly 20% of the illicit activity, or $16.1 billion, last year:

“Compared to other laundering endpoints, since 2020, inflows to identified CMLNs [Chinese-langugage money laundering networks] grew 7,325 times faster than those to centralized exchanges, 1,810 times faster than those to decentralized finance (DeFi), and 2,190 times faster than intra-illicit on-chain flows.”

Tom Keatinge, director at the Centre for Finance & Security at security think tank Royal United Services Institute, told Chainalysis that the rapid development of Chinese-language networks is an “an unforeseen consequence” of China’s imposition of capital controls.

“Wealthy individuals seeking to move money out of China and evade these controls provide the impetus and liquidity pool needed to service organized crime groups based in the West,” he noted.

Keatinge told Chainalysis, “The professional enablers of this capital flight provide the services necessary to match these two independent yet mutually beneficial needs.”

Chinese-language networks offer six primary money movement techniques to clean dirty money, which include recruiting individuals to rent out their financial identities, selling illicit cryptocurrency at a discounted rate, and obscuring fund origins through multiple transactions.

Overall, this Chinese ecosystem processed nearly $44 million per day last year.

crypto

Sage D. Young23h

Avalanche joins class of cryptocurrencies with at least one ETF

Investment management company VanEck on Monday introduced the first exchange-traded fund offering spot exposure to AVAX, the native token for the Avalanche blockchain and the latest cryptocurrency with an ETF.

The new investment vehicle also aims to provide staking rewards for holders, according to the press release. AVAX, which has seen over $354 million in trading volume in the last 24 hours, is up slightly today. The token is trading at $11.70 as of 1:20 p.m. ET, a far cry from its all-time high of $144.96 in 2021.

The nascent VanEck fund joins a group of its crypto-specific ETFs, including the firm’s bitcoin ETF, with $1.4 billion in total assets; its ethereum ETF, which holds $147.5 million; and its solana ETF, with assets totaling $27.9 million.

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crypto

Sage D. Young1/23/26

Ethereum treasury firm ETHZilla acquires two aircraft engines (!?!?) in tokenization push

ETHZilla, known for its ethereum treasury, formed a new subsidiary and purchased aerospace equipment in a bid to boost the company’s tokenization efforts.

The treasury firm, through its nascent subsidiary ETHZilla Aerospace LLC, “acquired two CFM56-7B24 aircraft engines, together with all parts, engine records and engine stands” for $12.2 million from Avean Engine Solutions, according to an 8K filing on Friday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The two aircraft engines are subject to lease agreements with a major airline, which were assigned to ETHZilla as part of the acquisition, the filing stated.

The firm’s top priority in 2026 is growing its real-world asset tokenization business and is keen on rolling out RWA tokens in the first quarter, an ETHZilla representative told Sherwood News at the beginning of the year.

ETHZilla’s acquisition of two aircraft engines is part of this tokenization road map, which aims to bring real-world assets from high-value vertical markets, such as aerospace, maritime, and heavy equipment, on-chain.

“In the heavy equipment market, we will initially focus on aerospace assets such as aircraft engines and airframes to tokenize,” ETHZilla Chairman and CEO McAndrew Rudisill said in his shareholder letter from December. “This represents a large, growing market with quality high-yielding assets, and we believe it is a very attractive space for tokenization.”

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