More than 2 million ETH tokens queue to exit authentication on Ethereum

What happened on the network

The crisis broke out on September 9 when Kiln, a Paris-based institutional staking company, which manages 1.6 million ETH ($7.2 billion), announced an "orderly withdrawal" of all its Ethereum validators.

This move is a direct reaction to the $41.5 million mining on SwissBorg's SOL Earn wallet - which is not related to Ethereum but raises concerns about third-party staking risks.

Kiln's validators, which are operated through distributed technology such as SSV Network, flooded the exit queue, immediately adding about 700,000 ETH and pushing the total to more than 2.5 million by mid-September.

By September 16, panels such as ValidatorQueue reported 2.63 million ETH (about $12.3 billion) in line, with a waiting time of up to 46 days - surpassing the 18-day peak of August.

Ethereum's PoS, after upgrading in Shanghai (April 2023), limits the number of exits to 1,024 per day to maintain ~32 ETH per validator to ensure security—prevent sudden cuts or centralization.

At the current rate, the processing of 2.5 million ETH (78,125 validators) theoretically takes about 76 days, but the effective waiting period of 44-46 days is observed to be part of the processing.

Kiln's exit event of about ~1.6 million ETH was added in batches; distributed validators (via SSV) were at risk of being cut during maintenance, similar to the event on September 10, when 39 validaters lost ~0.3 ETH each due to an error.

Continuing the sequence of pending orders of 1 million ETH in August (~5 billion dollars) in the context of ETH reaching an all-time high of $4,955, with stakingers repositioning after the price increase.

The participant is currently at 634,000 ETH (11 days), up from the balance; if 75% of people exit orders reset staking, the activation time can reach more than 120 days, according to Figment. The number of ETH deposited on the chain is still about 35.7 million (29% of supply), with 1.1 million validators — ATH level. Lido's deposit cancellation queue has recently reached 237,000 ETH, but the LST spread (e.g. stETH discount) is shrinking, signaling the possibility of recovery.

Reaction from Ethereum

Kiln described the withdrawal as "precautionary", estimated 10-42 days for each validator plus nine days for withdrawals, with rewards accumulated in the queue. The Ethereum fund remains silent, but the launch of the dAI Group on September 15 (ERC-8004 for AI agents) emphasizes the focus on utility rather than instant fixes.

Pectra upgrades (Q1 of 2026) can adjust the queue limit, but for now, this is a "healthy endurance test", according to Marcin Kazmierczak of RedStone. This is tied to the staking boom of organizations, such as SharpLink's $723 million ETH profit and ETF capital flows ($2.5 billion per day) driving transactions, while US-UK treaties promise compliance growth.

Evaluation and conclusion

Ethereum's unprecedented 2.5 million ETH exit queue, driven by Kiln's wave of capital withdrawals due to security concerns, exposes PoS's intentional contradiction: 46 days of waiting to protect the network but testing the patience of betters in the middle of $11.3 billion in a precarious state. However, with the increasing queue of participation and the unfaltered flow of investment capital from institutions, this could signal a supply crisis instead of a collapse - similar to Polkadot's reforms but amplifying the attractiveness of ETH yields.

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