Ethereum staking market is in a traffic jam! 520,000 ETH are waiting to be unstaked, 360,000 ETH are pouring into staking... Is it related to Justin Sun?

According to 's report on July 23, over the past week, Ethereum's validator exit queue has been crowded, with approximately 521,000 ETH (about $1.9 billion) waiting to be unstaked. Those wanting to exit the Ethereum network must patiently wait 8-9 days, the longest waiting time since early 2024. Meanwhile, the entry queue is equally active, with over 359,500 ETH (about $1.3 billion) waiting to join staking, with a waiting time of up to six days. The report points out that this entry and exit phenomenon reflects the polarized dynamics of the Ethereum market. On one hand, some stakers might be eager to cash in profits due to ETH's price surge of over 2 times since April's low point. On the other hand, the SEC's clear statement that Ethereum and its staking are not securities has attracted institutional investors and new funds, driving up staking entry queue enthusiasm. Notably, as of July 22, about 29.4% of ETH supply (approximately 36.39 million tokens) has been staked, hitting a historical high and surpassing June 17's peak of 35 million tokens. Analysts suggest this indicates investors' undiminished passion for participating in Ethereum network security and earning passive income. Additionally, crypto KOL darkpools posted on social platform X on July 23, suggesting another reason for massive validator unstaking queues might be related to Justin Sun: Justin Sun massively withdrew ETH from DeFi platform Aave, causing ETH supply shortage. Aave's ETH lending rates skyrocketed due to usage surge. Investors using stETH (Lido staking token) for high-leverage circular strategies found no profitability and began deleveraging. Large amounts of deleveraging stETH flooded the unstaking queue, causing congestion. Some investors chose to directly sell stETH to avoid long waiting times, causing stETH to deviate 30 basis points (0.3%) from ETH. Circular strategy participants face a dilemma: accept 0.3% loss (3% loss under 10x leverage) or hold positions waiting for price recovery while potentially continuing to lose. Since stETH's price oracle uses redemption rate instead of market rates, lenders might be stuck in positions for up to 18 days, matching current Ethereum unstaking queue time. Worse, if interest continues accumulating, it might trigger stETH liquidation, further exacerbating stETH deviation, making market turbulence hard to avoid.