Grayscale’s announcement that the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF has become the first US-listed spot crypto ETF to enable staking helped push the price of ETH above $4,700 in October.
However, Grayscale's ETH staking activity was not strong enough to sustain the price at that level for long.
Grayscale has staked over 300,000 ETH, but selling pressure is greater
On October 6, Grayscale announced that its Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE, ETH) and Solana Trust (GSOL) now allow investors to earn staking yield directly through traditional brokerage accounts.
Industry leaders expressed optimism about the news, calling it a bullish signal for ETH and the broader Ethereum ecosystem.
“It’s great news that Grayscale’s ETH ETF can now stake $ETH. This is a huge milestone for the ecosystem and is bullish for Ethereum as a whole. Having worked on BlackRock’s Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, I have seen how powerful these vehicles are for institutional access and adoption,” said Joseph Chalom, co-founder of Sharplink (SBET).
Nevertheless, the price of ETH fell below $4,500, lower than it was at the time of the news announcement.
ETH price performance since early October. Source: TradingView
According to on-chain analytics account EmberCN, Grayscale has staked 304,000 ETH worth over $1.3 billion since receiving approval for staking.
This move demonstrates Grayscale's strong commitment to supporting the Ethereum network. Reducing the circulating supply could also help stabilize the price of ETH.
However, current Ethereum network data suggests that this effort may not be enough to produce a strong positive impact.
Amount of ETH in staking and unstaking queues. Source: ValidatorQueue
According to ValidatorQueue data, approximately 489,000 ETH is waiting to be staked, most of which belongs to Grayscale. In contrast, the amount of ETH awaiting de-staking is much higher and has been increasing since early October, with over 2.4 million ETH waiting for withdrawal.
This large imbalance indicates potential selling pressure, which could increase the circulating supply of ETH and put downward pressure on the price.
Ethereum’s long-dormant whale has awakened, adding to the selling pressure
Meanwhile, several long-time Ethereum whales have moved on and started selling their holdings.
- According to Lookonchain, one whale wallet woke up after four years of inactivity and sold 1,800 ETH for a profit of approximately $8.12 million. Four years ago, this wallet was withdrawing 5,999 ETH from Kraken for just $2,523 per ETH.
- Similarly, SpotOnChain reported that another dormant whale transferred 15,000 ETH (equivalent to approximately $68.2 million) to Bitfinex after being inactive for five years.
A similar pattern is emerging with Bitcoin OG wallets, reflecting a common profit-taking mentality among long-term and large-scale investors.
The combination of a reactivated Ethereum whale and an increase in unstaking queues in October could weaken the positive impact of Grayscale’s staking efforts.
Although staking more ETH helps strengthen network security and generate staking rewards, selling pressure from unstaking activity and whale movements can outweigh these benefits, making it difficult for ETH price to maintain upward momentum.
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