TLDR
- BitMine added 82,560 Ether worth around $259 million to Ethereum’s staking system.
- The company’s total staked ETH has now reached 544,064 valued at approximately $1.62 billion.
- BitMine began staking on December 26 and continues to increase its ETH deposits.
- Ethereum’s validator entry queue has grown to nearly 1 million ETH with a 17-day wait time.
- Exit activity on the network remains low with only about 113,000 ETH waiting to withdraw.
BitMine has increased its Ethereum staking position by adding 82,560 Ether worth about $259 million, pushing its total to 544,064 ETH, and this has accelerated congestion in the Ethereum validator queue which is nearing 1 million ETH as institutional demand rises, according to data from Arkham and Lookonchain.
BitMine Boosts Ethereum Staking by $259 Million
BitMine transferred large ETH amounts to Ethereum’s BatchDeposit contract within the past few hours. Arkham’s onchain data shows multiple transactions were executed to add to their existing stake.
Lookonchain confirmed BitMine’s total staked amount has now reached 544,064 ETH, worth approximately $1.62 billion at current prices. The latest deposit is one of the company’s largest to date since it began staking ETH on December 26.
Tom Lee(@fundstrat)'s #Bitmine staked another 82,560 $ETH($259M) 4 hours ago.
In total, #Bitmine has now staked 544,064 $ETH($1.62B).https://t.co/P684j5YQaG pic.twitter.com/3OItIe2k4d
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) January 3, 2026
Earlier, BitMine transferred nearly $219 million in Ether to staking contracts during its initial staking move. The Ethereum network has recorded all associated transactions through its staking infrastructure.
Validator Queue Nears 1 Million ETH as Entry Delays Mount
Ethereum’s validator entry queue has reached around 977,000 ETH, extending the waiting period for validator activation. The current estimated wait time is nearly 17 days, based on data from the Ethereum Validator Queue.
Validator exits remain low with just over 113,000 ETH queued for withdrawal, creating a backlog in entry approvals. This reflects growing demand for Ethereum staking, largely driven by institutional participants entering the space.
Ethereum’s data shows over 35.5 million ETH are now staked, accounting for roughly 29% of the total circulating supply. At present, the annualized staking yield stands near 2.54% according to Ethereum’s network statistics.
Abdul, head of DeFi at Monad, posted that “the last time queues flipped in June, ETH doubled in price shortly after.” He added, “2026 going to be a movie,” referencing the potential future impact of such congestion patterns.
Update:
ETH validator entry queue is now bigger than the exit queue, for the first time in six months
The last time this happened in June, ETH doubled in price shortly after
2026 going to be a movie https://t.co/GWMCjxfigo pic.twitter.com/3dMttYpB4B
— Abdul (@0x_Abdul) December 28, 2025
BitMine Advances MAVAN and Proposes Share Expansion
BitMine’s internal infrastructure, the Made-in-America Validator Network (MAVAN), is central to its staking expansion strategy. The company selected three institutional staking providers to test performance, security, and reliability with a pilot phase.
BitMine began staking through MAVAN in Q4 2025 before entering full-scale deployment in early 2026. These moves align with its long-term strategy to build native infrastructure for yield generation on Ethereum.
Tom Lee, BitMine’s chairman, asked shareholders to approve an increase in the authorized share count to 50 billion. He stated the move is essential to accommodate potential stock splits if ETH prices continue to rise sharply.
Lee said, “If Bitcoin hits $1 million and ETH touches $250,000, our share price could become inaccessible for retail investors.”
BitMine’s share price historically tracks Ether’s market performance, which guides Lee’s valuation expectations moving forward.
