Since April 13, following the activation of the Shapella hard fork on the Ethereum network, the volume of ETH in staking has registered an increase of 4.4 million coins.
In total, 22.5 million ETH are locked on the blockchain of the second largest crypto on the market, which is about 18% of the total supply of the asset.
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According to Dune, the net inflow of funds to the cryptocurrency's deposit contract since the activation of the upgrade has reached 1.74 million ETH.
The analysts of crypto exchange Bitfinex have said:
"The surge in demand for staking probably originates from large Ether holders, who prefer not to liquidate their holdings and instead seek to generate passive income. This trend is anticipated to persist, particularly considering that deflationary forces are expected to propel the price of Ether significantly."
The Lido Finance protocol accounts for 31.64% of the coins locked in staking, followed by Coinbase with 10.9%.