The Defiant

Staking Race Quickens as Rocket Pool Draws 1% of Ethereum's Validators in Three Months

Rocket Pool has aggregated 1% of Ethereum network validators in the run-up to Eth2.

By: Samuel Haig Loading...

Staking Race Quickens as Rocket Pool Draws 1% of Ethereum's Validators in Three Months

Rocket Pool, an Eth2 staking provider, now accounts for 1% of Ethereum’s network validators just three months after launching.

The project has quickly emerged as the second-largest Eth2 liquid-staking platform, dramatically outpacing the growth of all rivals except for the sector’s leader, Lido, which enabled staking in December 2020.

Ethereum’s highly anticipated Eth2 overhaul was set in motion with the launch of staking in November 2020, one month before the beacon chain went live. However, individual stakers are required to contribute at least 32 Ethereum in order to secure the network, posing a barrier to entry for smaller hodlers. Ethereum stakers also cannot withdraw staked assets until after the network’s chain-merge is completed later this year.

Looking Forward to a Greener Ethereum in 2022
Looking Forward to a Greener Ethereum in 2022

Looking Forward to a Greener Ethereum in 2022

Ethereum's transition to Proof-of-Stake this year is expected to cut energy use by 99%.

The Defiant The Defiant

Staking providers like Rocket Pool have stepped in to lower the barriers to entry for staking, enabling holders with less than 32 ETH to pool their coins and validate the network. Rocket Pool users can begin staking with as little as 0.01 ETH, while Lido has no minimum limit set.

With stakers also being forced to weather Ether’s dramatic price fluctuations until The Merge is completed and withdrawals are enabled, staking providers issue validators tradeable tokens representing their locked staked ETH, allowing them to remain liquid while withdrawals are not yet enabled.

Minipools

On Feb. 21, Rocket Pool tweeted that 2,974 validators, or 1% of Ethereum stakers, are doing so via “minipools” hosted on its platform. The milestone comes just three months after Rocket Pool’s launch.

The Ethereum liquid staking sector remains dominated by Lido despite Rocket Pool’s impressive growth. Lido represents almost 86% of market share with $4.6B in staked ETH. Stakehound ranks third with about 3% market share.

In total, 296,429 validators are securing the Eth2 Beacon Chain with nearly 9.5 million Ether according to Ethscan. Eth2 currently boasts a staked capitalization of more than $24B, ranking it as the second-largest Proof of Stake network behind Solana’s $32.4B according to Staking Rewards.

DeFi AlphaPremium Content
Start for free

Subscribe to DeFi Daily Newsletter and Get Smarter on DeFi & Web3.

80k+ investors informed every day.