Current outcome
Ethereum's staking exit queue has climbed to a 2026 high with roughly 800,000 ETH queued for withdrawal, pointing to elevated validator unstaking demand and a lengthening wait to exit.
Progress timeline
12 material updates- #01
MetaMask: Security Incident Affects Part of Infrastructure, No Immediate Threat
MetaMask disclosed a security incident affecting part of its infrastructure and is proactively exiting affected validators from its non-custodial staking operations, stating no immediate threat to wallets has been identified.
Source evidence: wublockchainenglish · theblockbeats · theblockbeats · foresightnews · Decrypt
- #02
Aave创始人：密切关注MetaMask质押事件，Aave市场未受影响
Aave founder Stani said his team is monitoring the MetaMask Staking infrastructure security incident alongside Lido, confirming that Aave markets are unaffected and all operations are running normally.
Source evidence: theblockbeats · Crypto Briefing · theblockbeats · Protos · The Crypto Times
- #03
MetaMask Staking Exits Lido Validators After Infrastructure Compromise
MetaMask Staking has begun exiting its Lido validators, with Lido estimating an up-to-45-day exit, withdrawal and re-entry cycle; Aave's founder says its markets are operating normally.
State after update: MetaMask disclosed a security incident affecting part of its infrastructure and is exiting affected validators from its non-custodial staking operations; MetaMask Staking has begun exiting its Lido validators, with Lido estimating the cycle could take up to about 45 days, while Aave's founder says its markets are operating normally.
Source evidence: The Defiant · theblockbeats · Binance
- #04
MetaMask exits Ethereum validators amid undisclosed security incident
MetaMask is investigating a security incident affecting its infrastructure and is exiting its operated Ethereum staking validators as a precaution; Lido confirmed the validator exits and flagged potential penalties; the last affected validators are expected to exit by Oct. 7, with withdrawal and re-entry cycle estimated up to 45 days.
State after update: MetaMask is investigating an undisclosed security incident affecting its infrastructure and is exiting its operated Ethereum staking validators as a precaution; Lido confirmed the validator exits and flagged potential penalties, while Aave markets remain unaffected per the founder's earlier statement.
Source evidence: Cointelegraph
- #05
MetaMask security incident forces Ethereum staking exits, no funds at risk
New researcher estimates: about 0.36 ETH in block-production payments was diverted and roughly 17,000 validators holding about 523,000 ETH are being withdrawn, though MetaMask has not confirmed those figures; Lido said the last validators are expected to stop staking by Oct. 7 and stETH holders need not act.
State after update: MetaMask disclosed a security incident affecting part of its infrastructure and has shut down and is exiting affected Ethereum validators; a researcher estimated about 0.36 ETH in block-production payments was diverted and roughly 17,000 validators holding about 523,000 ETH were affected, though MetaMask has not confirmed those figures; Lido said the exit and re-entry cycle could take up to about 45 days, with the last validators expected to stop staking by Oct. 7 and no action needed from stETH holders; MetaMask says it has identified no immediate threat to wallets.
Source evidence: CoinDesk
- #06
【MetaMask 安全事件攻击者盗取了原属于验证者激励的 0.36 ETH】
On-chain researcher Kaden said that out of 19 validators receiving block rewards in the affected group, 18 rewards were not sent to the intended fee recipient but instead went to an address funded by Tornado Cash, with the attacker actually obtaining about 0.36 ETH; MetaMask has preemptively exited roughly 17,000 validators holding about 523,000 ETH.
State after update: MetaMask disclosed a security incident affecting part of its infrastructure and has shut down and is exiting affected Ethereum validators; further analysis by on-chain researcher Kaden indicates that out of 19 validators receiving block rewards, 18 rewards were not sent to the intended fee recipient and instead went to an address funded by Tornado Cash, with the attacker actually obtaining about 0.36 ETH; MetaMask has preemptively exited roughly 17,000 validators holding about 523,000 ETH; Lido previously said the exit and re-entry cycle could take up to about 45 days, with the last validators expected to stop staking by Oct. 7 and no action needed from stETH holders; MetaMask says it has identified no immediate threat to wallets.
Source evidence: foresightnews
- #07
Analysis: MetaMask Exits 17,000 Validators After Staking Security Incident
New: about 821 potentially affected validators remain active, and compromised validator signing keys could pose residual slashing risk; MetaMask said its staking service is non-custodial and it does not control users' withdrawal keys.
State after update: MetaMask disclosed a security incident affecting part of its infrastructure and has shut down and is exiting affected Ethereum validators; further analysis by on-chain researcher Kaden indicates that out of 19 validators receiving block rewards, 18 rewards were not sent to the intended fee recipient and instead went to an address funded by Tornado Cash, with the attacker actually obtaining about 0.36 ETH; MetaMask has preemptively exited roughly 17,000 validators holding about 523,000 ETH; new information indicates about 821 potentially affected validators remain active, and compromised signing keys could pose residual slashing risk; MetaMask said its staking service is non-custodial and it does not control users' withdrawal keys; Lido previously said the exit and re-entry cycle could take up to about 45 days, with the last validators expected to stop staking by Oct. 7 and no action needed from stETH holders.
Source evidence: wublockchainenglish
- #08
分析师：疑似19个MetaMask验证者遭攻击，攻击者仅窃取约0.36 ETH奖励
On-chain analyst reports about 19 MetaMask validators appear compromised with reward fees diverted to a Tornado Cash-funded address; roughly 17,000 validators (~523k ETH) voluntarily exited, though only ~0.36 ETH was actually stolen; some suspected affected validators remain unexited.
State after update: MetaMask staking security incident remains under investigation; on-chain analysis indicates about 19 validators may be affected, roughly 17,000 validators voluntarily exited, stolen rewards total about 0.36 ETH, and some suspected affected validators have not yet exited.
Source evidence: theblockbeats
- #09
MetaMask security scare pushes Ethereum validator exits to a nine-month high
Ethereum’s validator exit queue reached 773,447 ETH, the largest backlog since December 2025, implying about a 13-day 10-hour exit wait plus a 7.6-day sweep; the entry queue is about 27 days.
State after update: MetaMask disclosed a security incident affecting part of its infrastructure and is preemptively exiting roughly 17,000 validators holding about 523,000 ETH; on-chain researcher Kaden said that out of 19 validators receiving block rewards, 18 rewards were not sent to the intended fee recipient and instead went to an address funded by Tornado Cash, with the attacker actually obtaining about 0.36 ETH; about 821 potentially affected validators have not yet exited, and compromised signing keys could pose residual slashing risk; MetaMask said its staking service is non-custodial and it does not control users’ withdrawal keys, but has not disclosed the cause, full scope, or whether signing keys were exposed; new information shows Ethereum’s validator exit queue swelled to 773,447 ETH, the largest backlog since December 2025, implying about a 13-day 10-hour exit wait plus a 7.6-day sweep, with an entry queue of about 27 days; Lido previously said the full exit, withdrawal and re-entry cycle could take up to about 45 days.
Source evidence: CryptoSlate
- #10
Joseph Lubin: No Indication MetaMask Wallets or Customer Funds Were Affected by
Consensys founder Joseph Lubin publicly responded for the first time, saying there is no indication that MetaMask wallets or customer funds were affected by the infrastructure security incident; as a precaution, his team and partners rotated validator keys, and he emphasized that validator and withdrawal keys are separate and the team does not hold clients' withdrawal keys, preventing unauthorized transfers of staked ETH.
State after update: Consensys founder Joseph Lubin publicly stated that MetaMask wallets and customer funds were not affected by the infrastructure security incident; validator keys have been rotated as a precaution, and withdrawal keys remain separately held by clients, so no unauthorized transfers of staked ETH occurred.
Source evidence: wublockchainenglish · foresightnews
- #11
Ethereum investors are stuck in a two-week staking exit line. Here's why.
Ethereum’s validator exit queue became the longest of 2026 after MetaMask’s precautionary validator exits: about 851,000 ETH on Oct. 2, with about 786,000 ETH still queued on Oct. 5 and an estimated nearly 14-day wait; Lido expects the affected ETH to be gradually restaked over a process that could take up to about 45 days, with the last affected MetaMask validators expected to stop staking by Oct. 7. The entry queue separately fell to about 1.5 million ETH/25 days, down from about 2 million ETH/35 days in early September.
State after update: The precautionary validator exits tied to MetaMask’s infrastructure security incident pushed Ethereum’s exit queue to a 2026 peak of about 851,000 ETH on Oct. 2; about 786,000 ETH remained queued on Oct. 5 with an estimated wait of nearly 14 days. Lido expects the affected ETH to be gradually restaked over a process that could take up to about 45 days, with the last affected MetaMask validators expected to stop staking by Oct. 7. MetaMask said it found no indication wallets or customer funds were affected, and client withdrawal keys remain outside its control.
Source evidence: CoinDesk
- #12
Ethereum News | Ethereum Staking Exit Queue Hits 2026 High With Nearly 800K ETH Waiting to Withdraw
Ethereum's staking exit queue has climbed to a 2026 high with roughly 800,000 ETH queued for withdrawal, pointing to elevated validator unstaking demand and a lengthening wait to exit.
Source evidence: Binance