Ethereum and Solana Staking Hit Records in Q3 as Yields Slip

Bitwise’s quarterly staking report shows 43.8 million ETH, nearly 36% of total supply, was locked in staking at the end of September. Annualized yields averaged 2.63%, down from 2.81% the previous quarter, because rewards are now shared across a bigger pool. Net inflows came to just under 2 million ETH in Q3, the sixth straight quarter of positive flows, and 7.96 million ETH has been added in the first nine months of 2026.

Institutional Staking Drives the Inflows

Bitmine, the leading Ethereum treasury company led by Tom Lee, grew its staked position by more than 1,000%, from 410,000 ETH in December to 5.07 million ETH as of Sept. 27. Newly issued ETH made up over 96% of staking yield, with transaction tips and MEV supplying the rest. Network revenue fell to about $40.6 million from $63 million in Q2.

Solana Staking Hits 69% of Supply

Active staking on Solana climbed to a record 440.5 million SOL, or 69% of total supply. Gross yields fell about 6%, and newly issued tokens provided 90% of returns, much like Ethereum.

Solana Activity and Fees Surge

The network handled 14.2 billion transactions, up 45% from Q2, while average costs stayed mostly flat. Fees rose 49% to $76 million, driven mostly by memecoin trading, and tokenized equities volume grew 45% to more than $6.9 billion.