Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin addressed concerns surrounding the long wait times for withdrawing staked coins, reassuring the community about the reasons behind this delay and explaining why it is part of the network’s critical architecture.
The Withdrawal Queue Issue
As of September 18, 2.49 million ETH are awaiting withdrawal from staking, and fully unlocking this amount will take over 43 days. This is the highest figure in Ethereum’s history, sparking considerable discussion within the community. Notably, Michael Marcantonio, head of DeFi at Galaxy Digital, expressed concerns about the prolonged waiting time in a now-deleted post.
He pointed out that unlike Ethereum, which requires several weeks for asset withdrawals, networks like Solana only take two days. Marcantonio questioned whether a network that takes 45 days to return assets could be considered a suitable candidate for driving global capital markets.
Vitalik Buterin’s Response
In response to Marcantonio’s criticism, Buterin explained that the staking withdrawal process is more akin to a soldier choosing to leave the army. “Staking is a solemn commitment to defend the blockchain. The friction involved in exiting the game is part of the deal. The army cannot remain cohesive if a portion of it can leave at any time,” Buterin clarified.
He also acknowledged that the current withdrawal queue structure is not perfect. However, he warned that any naive reduction of the constants could significantly compromise the network’s security, especially for nodes that rarely go online.
Community’s Reaction
Marcantonio’s post received a strong backlash, with many members of the community defending Ethereum. For instance, former ConsenSys product manager Jimmy Ragosa noted that Galaxy Digital’s executive had only harmed business relations with other companies by making such criticisms. Lawyer Gabriel Shapiro also remarked that corporate censorship is unacceptable.
Meanwhile, Robert Sags, co-founder of FogoChain, expressed some reservations about staking, comparing it to banking. However, users like chainyoda reminded the community that withdrawing from staking is not the same as withdrawing customer funds from a bank; rather, it is closer to the withdrawal of risk or regulatory capital.
A Significant Milestone for Ethereum
On September 15, Ethereum celebrated the third anniversary of the activation of the The Merge update, a milestone in the network’s history. This upgrade marked Ethereum’s transition to the Proof-of-Stake algorithm and introduced staking. Despite the criticism, Ethereum continues to evolve, and the withdrawal process is just one stage in the network’s journey toward greater scalability and security.
