The Ethereum network has seen a significant increase in staked Ether (ETH) since its Shapella upgrade in April, with the total amount of staked ETH surpassing 23 million in June. This data, provided by analytics firm Nansen, equates to nearly 20% of the current ETH supply, valued at $43.1 billion. In comparison, Solana currently has a staking ratio of 70.58%.

Staking on the Ethereum network involves users locking in their native ETH tokens to validate transactions and secure the network, earning rewards in the process. The Shapella hard fork, completed on April 12, allowed validators to withdraw their staked Ether from the Beacon Chain. This led to a growth in ETH staking, with more than a million ETH being unstaked in the first week of withdrawals.

The CEO of algorithmic-trading platform CoinRoutes, Dave Weisberger, commented on the situation, stating that the Shanghai upgrade allowed users to stake and unstake at will, leading to a surge in staked Ether. He noted that the Ethereum network is quickly catching up to rival chains like Solana in terms of the percentage of the native token being staked.

However, the rise in Ether staking has also drawn regulatory attention, particularly in the United States where the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is tightening rules for crypto firms offering staking services. Crypto exchange Kraken had to settle with the SEC for $30 million and close its staking services for U.S. clients. The SEC argued that the service was a securities offer and that the exchange should have obtained an appropriate license to operate it. The regulator also recently took action against Coinbase's staking program for similar reasons. The U.S. is home to the majority of node operators on the Ethereum blockchain, housing 48% of all validators.