Samson Mow Sounds Alarm: Ethereum ’Unstakening’ Crisis as Exits Approach 1 Million, Wait Times Skyrocket

Ethereum's staking exodus hits panic mode—nearly a million validators racing for the exits while queue times stretch into weeks.

The Great Unstaking

Validators are flooding withdrawal requests, pushing network processing to its absolute limits. That 1 million exit milestone isn't just a number—it's a massive stress test for Ethereum's infrastructure.

Wait Times Explode

Processing delays now stretch longer than most crypto investors' attention spans. The system's designed for orderly exits, but this looks more like a bank run on digital rails.

Market Implications

Liquid staking derivatives suddenly look a lot less liquid. Traditional finance would call this a liquidity crisis—but in crypto, we call it Tuesday. Another day, another chance for Wall Street to smirk about 'mature digital assets' while counting their bond coupons.

The real test isn't whether Ethereum survives—it's whether the believers hold their nerve while the paper hands flee.

Samson Mow, Bitcoin supporter and JAN3 CEO has yet again criticised ETH despite its growing popularity. 

With a growing number of ETH being unstaked and validator exits on the rise, Mow warns that significant market shifts may be ahead.

Are bigger challenges coming?

Ethereum Unstaking Nears 1M ETH

Mow highlighted the rise in ethereum withdrawals, with around 909,788 ETH, worth nearly $3.9 billion, already unstaked. He expects this figure to cross 1 million ETH soon, arguing that such large outflows weaken Ethereum’s chances of ever surpassing Bitcoin. This directly counters bullish predictions from analysts such as Fundstrat’s Tom Lee.

“The flippening will never happen but the unstakening is coming,” he had said in a previous X post. He has also warned that ETH/BTC ratio could drop to 0.03 or even lower. 

At present, about 29% of Ethereum’s total supply, or roughly 35.3 million coins, is staked. However, demand for new staking has slowed while validator exits continue to grow. The exit queue is now close to 1 million ETH, valued at around $4 billion, which has also contributed to Ether’s recent price weakness.

ETH Faces Selling Pressure

Ether ETFs have also seen recent weakness, with $257 million in outflows over the past two days. This selling pressure has pushed ETH down from its weekly high, with the price now around $4,300.

The CEO of Canary Capital also shared a bearish view. He argued that Ethereum is outdated and slower compared to newer blockchains such as Solana and Sui. He doesn’t expect ETH to reach new all-time highs, but remains bullish on Bitcoin, predicting it could rise to $140K–$150K this year, fueled by ETF demand and institutional buyers.

ETH Exchange Inflows Surge While BTC Remains Steady

On-chain data shows another divergence between bitcoin and Ethereum. 

CryptoQuant analysts noted that bitcoin exchange inflows have remained steady, suggesting stable sentiment and limited selling pressure. Ethereum, however, has seen a sharp increase in activity.

In mid-August, ETH transfers to exchanges topped 2.6 million coins in a single day, pointing to higher trading activity and possible profit-taking.

Will ETH ETFs Surpass BTC ETFs?

Despite the challenges, one analyst at Dragonfly notes that Bitcoin ETFs now hold 6.38% of BTC, while Ethereum ETFs sit at 5.08% of ETH. If current trends continue, Ethereum ETFs could overtake Bitcoin ETFs in share of total supply by September.

at current pace, % of ETH in ETFs will exceed BTC's in september

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