Celsius Network is shaking up its Ether (ETH) staking strategy, congesting the already month-long queue to activate new validators on the Ethereum network. Over the course of two days, the firm has moved some $745 million of ETH into staking contracts after redeeming $813 million of staked ETH from liquid staking leader Lido Finance. This has stretched the queue to establish new validators on the Ethereum network to 44 days, with Celsius potentially responsible for almost a week of extra time.
The transfers are part of the lender’s maneuver to reshuffle its staked ETH stash since Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade enabled withdrawals from staking contracts in April. Celsius has already staked some $75 million of its available ETH stash with non-custodial, institutional staking service Figment and requested to redeem its 460,000 staked ETH from Lido. It has already reclaimed 428,000 tokens, worth $813 million.
On Thursday, the firm moved a total of 291,000 ETH, worth $553 million, into staking contracts. On Friday, the company resumed moving tokens into staking contracts, putting it on track to stake all the 428,000 ETH stash. After the transfers, Celsius wallets still held some $109 million in ETH.
Staking allows the beleaguered lender to earn rewards on digital asset holdings while the withdrawal freeze on user deposits is in effect. However, it also significantly stresses an already crowded queue to add new validators on the Ethereum network. If Celsius commits all the 428,000 tokens to staking, it will add six days and 15 hours to the waiting time, increasing to 45 days.