• Kraken, Huobi, Binance, and Coinbase are the largest entities withdrawing ETH following the Shapella upgrade.
• Huobi’s withdrawal may be related to Justin Sun’s acquisition of the company.
• Lido is yet to support ETH staking withdrawals.
ETH Staking Withdrawals: Kraken and Huobi Among Largest Entities
The Ethereum blockchain has recently activated ETH staking withdrawals allowing people and entities to withdraw their staked ETH for the first time since 2020. Data suggests that centralized exchanges are the leading withdrawers of staked ETH with Kraken and Huobi taking a lead.
Kraken
Kraken, a U.S.-based crypto exchange, has already withdrawn over 150,000 ETH which amounts to around $300 million. However, it still waits in line to withdraw more than 400,000 ETH which comprises 44.3% of all ETH waiting in line according to data from Nansen. The decision from Kraken was expected as it received an order from SEC in February to stop providing staking services and fined $30 million for this purpose.
Huobi
Huobi has withdrawn over 45,000 ETH or $90 million so far but there is no official explanation as why they decided to withdraw their funds right now. Some believe that this might be connected with Li Lin transferring the company ownership rights to Justin Sun recently.
Binance follows up after Kraken when it comes to withdrawing staked Ethereum with more than 192 000 ETH or $384 million followed by Coinbase waiting to withdraw 119 375 ETH ($238 750 000).
Lido Protocol
The largest liquid-staking derivatives (LSD) protocol “Lido” has yet not enabled any withdrawals of Etheruem while more than one million have been withdrawn since Shapella upgrade activation.
Conclusion
Staked Ethereum withdrawals have been live for some days now enabling users track inflows and outflows of Ethereum better positioning themselves appropriately in terms of investing decisions made during current market situation