Do you want to become an Ethereum validator? You have to wait 45 days and here’s why

This year, the Ethereum network officially transitioned to a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm, leaving proof-of-work behind for good.

One of the many implications that The Merge has had on the protocol is that there are no longer Ethereum miners. Validators secure the network now, and the path to becoming one is supposed to be greatly simplified: deposit 32 ETH into the share contract and run the appropriate software.

But it turns out that there is a long queue for validators and becoming one can take some time.

45 days to become an Ethereum validator

You read that right: if you have ETH to spare and want to invest in protecting the network and earn rewards for this important task, you will have to wait… a long time.

It seems that becoming a validator is something so sought after that the queue keeps growing.

Data of WenMerge shows that there are currently 92,536 validators waiting to enter the network. This will take approximately 45 days to clear.

The competition is so high that it seems that practically no one wants to get out. The output queue currently consists of only 4 validators.

Celsius enters the queue

The embattled cryptocurrency lender is part of the reason the queue is getting longer.

Over the past few days, the Celsius Network has moved some $600 million worth of ETH into the staking contract and this rate shows no signs of slowing down, according to Arkham Intelligence.

Celsius is making moves to stake all of the ETH it currently owns, representing moves totaling almost $1B in on-chain flows.

In the last 24 hours, they have staked over $600 million worth of ETH, and their deposit rate shows no signs of slowing down. 👇 pic.twitter.com/8bW3xB15UH

—Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) June 2, 2023

At current prices, the above is made up of around 316K ETH added to the input queue of the validator.

Remember that back in April, crypto potato reported that major US-based cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Gemini have joined the bid for the lender’s assets.