Ethereum staking hits record highs – So why are yields falling?

Ethereum [$ETH] staking hit an all-time high of 43.8 million, extending its growth streak to six consecutive quarters even as staking yields declined.

Bitwise’s Q4 2026 Staking Report highlighted that staked $ETH represented 35.9% of the total supply of Ethereum.

The network reportedly recorded net staking inflows of 1.99 million $ETH during the quarter, highlighting continued growth in participation. Ethereum’s staking yield, however, fell from 2.81% to 2.63%, reflecting how the increase in participation aligned with lower returns.

Bitmine expands staking with a $390.6 million allocation

Institutional staking activity gained further attention as Bitmine staked another 159,728 $ETH, valued at roughly $390.6 million. As per the Lookonchain’s post on X, the recent transaction pushed Bitmine’s total staked holdings to 5.23 million $ETH, worth approximately $12.78 billion.

In fact, the staked assets accounted for roughly 86.5% of the company’s total $ETH holdings, reflecting its significant commitment to Ethereum.

The recent allocation strengthened Bitmine’s strategy of generating staking rewards while at the same time maintaining significant exposure to $ETH.

Interestingly, this significant participation further provided institutional context to Ethereum’s record staking figures, especially as yields continued depreciating.

Binance traders favor longs as $ETH exits exchanges

The derivatives market insights highlighted that Binance’s top traders maintained a strong bias for long positions despite recent price weakness.

In particular, long accounts represented 67.91% of top trader accounts, with 32.09% in favor of short positions. As a result, the Long/Short Ratio reached 2.12, implying that bullish positions outnumbered bearish positions by more than twofold.

Besides, Ethereum’s Spot market registered negative netflows of $2.34 million on the 21st of October, implying that the exchange withdrawals exceeded deposits, potentially reducing $ETH available for immediate selling.

The recent outflow, however, remained relatively modest as compared with several larger withdrawals recorded during September and better part of October.

Ethereum defends $2,400 as RSI improves

After retreating from the $2,800 resistance, Ethereum market value sat around $2,446, inside its previous consolidation range.

The daily timeframe chart highlighted $ETH fluctuating between the $2,400 support and the $2,535 resistance, with the bulls defending the lower boundary repeatedly.

Following its recent correction, $ETH attempted a modest rebound but struggled to establish a sustained move above the $2,500 area.

The RSI indicator, meanwhile, recovered to 42.80, above its signal average, which stood at 39.87. Even though the RSI remained below the 50-threshold, its latest improvement suggested easing bearish pressure.

On the other hand, the Parabolic SAR indicator remained above the prevailing price at $2,547.94, validating bearish structure.

Ethereum would need sustained price rebound to allow for it to retest the $2,535 resistance, where sellers previously restricted further advances, as the bearish SAR still favored caution.

Final Summary

• Ethereum staking reached 43.8 million $ETH as Bitmine expanded its staked holdings.
• $ETH defended $2,400 support, but bearish indicators continued limiting recovery prospects.