Liquid Staking Protocols See Increase in Monthly ETH Deposits Despite Withdrawals Post-Shapella Hard Fork

Following the Shapella hard fork on April 12, 2023, approximately 332,368 ether, valued at around $699 million, has been withdrawn. Despite these withdrawals, liquid staking protocols like Lido, Rocketpool, and others have experienced an increase in ether deposits over the last 30 days. Since March 14, a total of 281,498 ether worth $592 million have been added to these protocols.

As of April 15, 2023, there’s $53.68 billion total value locked (TVL) across various decentralized finance (defi) protocols. Around $16.96 billion or 31% of today’s defi TVL is in staked ether. Lido’s TVL stands at approximately $12.74 billion, accounting for 23.74% of defi’s locked value. The rising price of ethereum (ETH), above the $2,100 per unit range, along with deposits into ETH-based liquid staking protocols have contributed to an increase in value for these platforms.

For instance, Lido’s TVL has grown by 18.02% over the past 30 days; Coinbase’s liquid staking protocol has risen by 16.51% within the same period. Rocketpool’s TVL has surged by 22.48%, while Stakewise has expanded by 15.83%. Archive data from March 14, 2023, shows that 7,749,372 ETH were locked in liquid staking platforms; as of April 15, that number is up to 8,030,870 ETH – an addition of 281,498 ether in just one month.

Simultaneously, since the Shapella hard fork integration, a total of 332,368 ether has been withdrawn from the validator queue. Current pending withdrawals account for about 1.48 million ether worth of funds. The annual percentage rate (APR) for staking ETH currently sits at around 4.98% today. Presently, the Beacon chain contract holds 18,386,887 ETH, valued at $38.67 billion.

Approximately 81% of ETH validators have updated their withdrawal addresses, while 18.5% have not, as per Nansen statistics. The three entities with the highest number of withdrawals are Kraken, Binance, and Coinbase. It is speculated that Kraken and Coinbase have initiated a large portion of these withdrawals due to issues with U.S. regulators concerning liquid staking protocols.

What do you think the future holds for liquid staking protocols? Will their growth continue or will regulatory concerns and market volatility impact their popularity in the months to come? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.