Bitwise’s Q4 2026 staking report says Ethereum staking hit a record, while yields fell across major proof-of-stake networks.

Ethereum ended the third quarter with more stake securing the network than at any point in its history, according to Bitwise’s Staking Report, Q4 2026, which said the quarter combined a broad market upturn with cheaper onchain activity and lower rewards across major proof-of-stake networks.

Bitwise said Ethereum staking reached 43.80 million ETH, equal to 35.9% of supply, with net inflows of 1.99 million ETH making it a sixth consecutive quarter of growth. The firm said staking rose while yields fell: Ethereum’s gross staking yield declined to 2.63% from 2.81% in the prior quarter. Bitwise also said Solana ended the quarter with 69% of supply staked at a 5.99% gross yield, down from 6.38%, while NEAR reached 46% staked at a 4.87% yield. Hyperliquid had 436 million HYPE staked at 2.24%, which Bitwise described as broadly unchanged.

The report framed the quarter as one in which growth got cheaper, noting that Ethereum and Solana were both far cheaper to use than a year earlier, while the reward for securing them fell again. Bitwise attributed part of the Ethereum validator decline to operator consolidation under Pectra, saying validator records fell from about 1.1 million to 881,000 even as the amount of ETH securing the chain continued to rise. On Solana, Bitwise said validator counts fell from 696 to 659, roughly 30% lower than a year ago, citing cost pressure.

Beyond core staking metrics, Bitwise pointed to growing activity in onchain traditional markets.

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