Ethereum’s staking entry queue reached about 2.48 million ETH on Sept. 20, 2026, exceeding exit demand by 13.6 times and creating estimated activation waits of 43 to 45 days. About 41 million ETH, or roughly 33.5% to 34% of supply, was locked in staking, while the validator count approached 900,000. Ethereum’s churn limit processes about 256 ETH in validator changes per epoch, slowing both entries and exits. The queue had previously reached about 3.4 million ETH in May before declining to roughly 1.8 million ETH by late September, when estimated waits were about 32 days. Pectra increased the maximum balance for compounding validators from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH and enabled exits through withdrawal credentials, giving operators more flexibility without removing queue constraints. Technical commentary identified $2,089 as a possible pullback level for ETH, while a weekly close above $2,550 was cited as a condition for targeting the $2,900 to $3,000 range.