Ethereum News
Figment’s 5.8% staking share and the Pectra validator shift
The retreat of Lido dominance
Lido’s market share sits at 24.4%, down from the 32.3% it held in late 2023. This decline reduces the concentration of power that researchers feared would exceed 33%. Figment now holds 5.8% of all staked ETH after adding 344,000 new stakers in the last month. Bitmine Immersion Technologies holds 4.8% of the total supply with its 4.9 million ETH stake. While Figment operates under Full NORS Certification, SOC 2 Type II, and ISO 27001, Bitmine Immersion Technologies reported a three-month net loss of $83.6 million, which contains $11.9 million in operating losses and $92 million in derivative contract losses. Bitmine’s staking revenue reached $45.7 million for the three months ending May 31, 2026, which accounts for 98% of its total revenue. Figment saw institutional ETH staking demand double after the SEC said in May that staking does not constitute a securities activity. The market is diversifying as specialized service models compete with liquid staking protocols.
Pectra efficiency for institutional stakers
The Pectra upgrade, which activated on May 7, 2025, changed validator operations. EIP-7251 raised the maximum effective balance from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH. This 64x increase allows institutions to consolidate many 32 ETH validators into fewer, larger positions. EIP-7002 introduces auto-compounding rewards and execution-layer triggerable exits for 0x02 validators. EIP-6110 also reduces deposit processing from 13 hours to 13 minutes. EIP-7702 introduces temporary smart contract functionality to Externally Owned Accounts, which enables gas abstraction and batched transactions. Pectra also doubles the target blob count from 3 to 6 per block.
| Feature | Legacy Validator (0x01) | Compounding Validator (0x02) |
|---|---|---|
| Max ETH Balance | 32 ETH | 2,048 ETH |
| Reward Handling | Distributed to withdrawal address | Auto-compounds on validator |
| Withdrawals | Full exit required | Partial withdrawals allowed |
| Deposit Time | ~13 hours | ~13 minutes |
Institutional rewards vary between consensus and execution layers. In Q1 2026, consensus layer rewards accounted for 93% of total validator rewards, while execution layer rewards comprised 7%. Figment validators proposing blocks received a median of 0.010827 ETH, which is 7% above the network median of 0.010017 ETH. Pectra’s PeerDAS also expands blob capacity from 6 to 48 per block, helping Layer 2 fees drop even though Ethereum’s base layer still processes 15 to 30 TPS.
Banking competition and validator risk
JPMorgan expanded its blockchain infrastructure through its Onyx division, which follows the September developments in the custody market. This expansion challenges BNY Mellon, which manages the iShares Bitcoin ETP that reached $100 billion in assets in late 2025. BNY maintains an 83% market share in U.S. spot crypto ETPs. I think the shift toward specialized infrastructure like Figment defines the current market. Figment maintains a 99.9% participation rate and recorded zero double-sign slashing events in Q1 2026. The network saw 33 slashing events during that same period. You should ignore the hype around L1 throughput and watch the validator concentration numbers instead. Does the ease of managing 2,048 ETH validators invite the very concentration risks the community wants to avoid? JPMorgan’s custody team provides coverage across 100+ markets and 70+ currencies, and BNY’s support for crypto ETPs grows as new digital asset products enter the market.
