The amount of Ether (ETH) in the queue to be staked has exceeded the amount waiting to be staked, which previously preceded massive increases in ETH prices.

Key takeaways:

• The Ethereum staking queue is outpacing the output queue, a phenomenon that has led to major ETH price increases in the past.

• ETH appears to be bullish above $2,750, with charts pointing to a $5,000 target.

The Ethereum validator’s input queue exceeds the output queue

The Ethereum entry queue has grown to 745,619 ETH worth $2.2 billion at current prices, with a 13-day wait time. This number crossed the exit queue for the first time since June and now stands at 360,528 ETH ($1.06 billion).

This marks the highest amount of Ether set for staking by network validators since November 30.

Related: TVL Ethereum Could Skyrocket ’10X’ in 2026: Sharplink CEO

Data from ValidatorQueue notes that the current number of busy validators exceeds 983,371, which represents 29.3% of the total ETH supply, or approximately 35.5 million ETH.

“Ethereum validator input queue just knocked down output queue” – DefiIgnas he said in Saturday’s post X, adding:

“The Pectra update improved staking UX and raised validator maximum limits, making it easier to re-stake for large balances.”

This means that most validators want to hold on to their ETH, reducing selling pressure.

“For the first time in six months, the queue to enter the ETH validator is now larger than the queue to exit” – Abdul, head of defi at the Monad Foundation, he wrote in X’s Sunday post, adding:

“The last time this happened in June, the price of ETH doubled shortly thereafter.”

Data from TradingView shows that the last two times the number of ETH awaiting staking exceeded that not staking was in March and June, preceding Ether price increases of 90% and 126%, respectively.

If history repeats itself, the price of ETH could rise to as much as $5,000 in 2026 due to increased staking, more online activity, and lower transaction fees.

The target price of ETH for 2024 is $5,000

Ether’s current technical structure closely mirrors the setup that triggered the price surge in Q4 2024.

The chart below suggests that the current horizontal price action in the $2,750-$3,200 range is behaving similarly to a whip in the $2,260-$2,750 range during July-October 2024.

Once the price breached the upper range at $2,750, it surged 74.5% to $4,100 in December 2024.

With prices remaining above $2,750, the ETH/USD pair could surge 75% from current levels to $5,120, reflecting the rally that followed a similar technical setup in 2024.

Titan of Crypto investor and trader he wrote that “ETH has already retreated 61.8% since its last impulsive move,” adding that it is currently at a level where price often reacts, as seen in mid-2024.

Added:

“$2,750 is a key level to watch in the coming weeks.”

As Cointelegraph reports, according to some prominent industry figures, the rise in the price of Ether to recent all-time highs in 2026 may be questionable or even constitute a “bull trap”.

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