Bitwise says Ethereum staking reached record 43.8 million ETH in Q3
Ethereum ended the third quarter with more stake securing the network than at any point in its history, according to Bitwise’s Staking Report, Q4 2026, which said the quarter combined a broad market upturn with cheaper onchain activity and lower rewards across major proof-of-stake networks.
Evidence and context
Bitwise said Ethereum staking reached 43.80 million ETH, equal to 35.9% of supply, with net inflows of 1.99 million ETH making it a sixth consecutive quarter of growth. The firm said staking rose while yields fell: Ethereum’s gross staking yield declined to 2.63% from 2.81% in the prior quarter. Bitwise also said Solana ended the quarter with 69% of supply staked at a 5.99% gross yield, down from 6.38%, while NEAR reached 46% staked at a 4.87% yield. Hyperliquid had 436 million HYPE staked at 2.24%, which Bitwise described as broadly unchanged.
The report framed the quarter as one in which growth got cheaper, noting that Ethereum and Solana were both far cheaper to use than a year earlier, while the reward for securing them fell again. Bitwise attributed part of the Ethereum validator decline to operator consolidation under Pectra, saying validator records fell from about 1.1 million to 881,000 even as the amount of ETH securing the chain continued to rise. On Solana, Bitwise said validator counts fell from 696 to 659, roughly 30% lower than a year ago, citing cost pressure.
Beyond core staking metrics, Bitwise pointed to growing activity in onchain traditional markets. It said tokenized equity volume on Solana reached $6.93 billion, up 45%, while non-crypto markets accounted for 36.5% of Hyperliquid perpetuals volume. The firm also said Robinhood Chain’s average daily Stock Token volume rose 22x from July to September, and that Robinhood’s chain generated over $50 million in fees in its first quarter.
The report’s observations are network-specific and should not be treated as universal across proof-of-stake systems. Ethereum’s staking and validator structure differ from other PoS designs, and the background mechanics of finality, voting and penalties vary by chain. Bitwise’s figures describe the networks it covered in the quarter ended September 2026; the material does not provide a forecast or a next dated catalyst.