In recent news, Ethereum 2.0 staking has experienced a significant surge, reaching a major milestone with the deposit contract for staking on the Beacon Chain hitting a record high of 47.36 million ETH. Surprisingly, this accounts for a staggering 33.9% of the total Ethereum supply. These statistics, provided by the crypto analytic platform Santiment, indicate a remarkable increase from just two years ago when the stake stood at a mere 10.9%, effectively tripling its share.
Redistribution of ETH Across Wallet Tiers
Santiment also pointed out the redistribution of ETH among different wallet tiers. Large wallets holding over 10 million ETH, which represent the Beacon Deposit Contract, have seen a significant uptick in their share by 23% of the total ETH supply over the past two years. Conversely, other wallet categories have experienced a decline, with wallets holding 10K+ETH (excluding the Beacon Deposit Contract) decreasing by 5.3% and wallets with 10K or less ETH dropping by 17.7% during the same period. This shift signifies an increasing engagement in Ethereum 2.0 staking.
Impact on Staking Rewards and Inflation Rates
Despite the growing interest in staking, data reveals that both staking reward rates and inflation rates have unexpectedly fallen. The reward rate denotes the annual percentage return for staking ETH, similar to the interest earned for contributing to network security. In contrast, the inflation rate measures the rate at which the total ETH supply expands, with new ETH minted as staking rewards contributing to the inflationary trend. The decrease in the reward rate means that stakers will receive a smaller amount of new ETH per staked token in the short term. However, the reduction in the inflation rate indicates that the overall ETH supply is growing at a slower pace, potentially benefiting ETH’s value in the long run.