Record-Breaking $2.56 Billion in Ethereum Pulled Out of Staking Contract Post-Shapella Upgrade

Following the recent upgrade to the smart contract platform, a well-known analytics company has disclosed that more than one million Ethereum (ETH) had been removed from the staking contract.

According to IntoTheBlock, after the Shapella upgrade, 1.37 million ETH, worth more than $2.56 billion at the time of writing, were unstaked and withdrawn. The names “Shanghai” and “Capella,” two separate updates that went online at the same time, are combined to form the Shapella upgrade, which for the first time enables Ethereum stakers to withdraw their staked tokens. Capella modified the protocol’s consensus layer while Shanghai strengthened the protocol’s execution layer.

Moreover, according to the top analytics company, Shapella saw a net withdrawal of 720,000 ETH worth $1.34 billion, culminating in a deposit of 650,000 ETH worth $1.21 billion into the staking contract. The analytics company continues by noting that since Shapella went live, institutional staking providers and centralized cryptocurrency exchanges have increased their ETH deposits to Ethereum’s staking contract.

Huobi, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange, currently controls 5.40% of all ETH staked, a startling 800% rise from 0.60% before the upgrade, according to IntoTheBlock.

In addition, the cryptocurrency exchange OKX increased its staking share from 0.69% before Shapella to 3.71%, a rise of more than 437%. A staking platform called Staked.us that targets institutional cryptocurrency investors saw a than 200% increase in share price from 2.80% to 8.25% after the update.

In the meantime, the US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase saw a decline in its staking share from 12.51% to 6.33%, or over 50%. According to IntoTheBlock, “Staking providers’ percentage of deposits has shifted considerably since the Ethereum Shapella upgrade. The increase in institutional staking providers’ and Asian centralized exchanges’ staking share is particularly notable.