Ethereum spot ETFs see second-largest daily outflow of almost $200 million
Meanwhile, the exit queue for ethereum validators has set a new record at 911,718 tokens — worth about $3.9 billion.
After seeing a record amount of inflows last week, US spot ethereum ETFs have reversed course and had the second-largest daily outflow on Monday, with $196.6 million exiting the funds. Most of the total, 84%, left BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF and Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund.
Despite the outflows, the cumulative amount of ethereum tokens held in ETFs stands at more than 6.5 million or $28 billion, representing nearly 5.4% of the total supply for the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. In comparison, treasury entities hold 4.1 million ethereum tokens worth about $17.6 billion, per StrategicETHReserve.xyz.
Amid the outflows, prominent treasury firm SharpLink Gaming, chaired by ethereum cofounder Joseph Lubin, announced purchasing an additional 143,593 tokens at an average entry price of $4,648 for the week ending August 17. SharpLink’s most recent acquisition level is about 10% higher than ethereum’s current price, which is stuck around $4,200 as of 12 p.m. ET.
The Minneapolis-based firm now holds 740,760 ethereum tokens worth roughly $3.2 billion. The company also raised $536.5 million in net proceeds through its at-the-market facility and a registered direct offering, according to Tuesday press release.
Ethereum’s validator exit queue is the longest ever
Meanwhile, the exit queue for validators has set a new all-time high of 911,718 ethereum tokens, equating to about $3.9 billion. The wait time for the exit to clear stands at 15 days and 20 hours. The figures are a substantial jump from seven days ago, when the exit line had 567,700 ethereum tokens waiting.
Preston Van Loon, an ethereum protocol developer, said on X, “The exit queue prevents a mass validator exodus. Without it, validators could rush to exit during a detected or anticipated attack on Ethereum’s consensus, weakening the network’s economic security when it’s most needed.”
Van Loon added, “The validator queue ensures economic security, which is the cost to attack or manipulate a protocol, mainly determined by the total ETH staked. More staked ETH increases attack costs.”
The number of staked ethereum tokens actively securing the network hasn’t seen much volatility, as the balance has remained above 35 million tokens since the middle of June, blockchain data shows.
