Ethereum Validator Exits Surge Amid 160% Price Rally; Solana and Dogecoin Push Tech Upgrades

Ethereum’s validator exit queue has hit a record high, with over 625,000 ETH—valued around $2.3 billion—awaiting withdrawal, signaling a wave of profit-taking after ether’s 160% rally since April. Data from validatorqueue.com shows withdrawal delays exceeding 10 days, surpassing January 2024 congestion levels. This trend highlights Ethereum’s proof-of-stake model, which limits validator entry and exit rates, and suggests stakers are capitalizing on higher prices or shifting custodians.

On Solana, the Jito Foundation launched its Block Assembly Marketplace (BAM) to reshape transaction sequencing. The system introduces BAM Nodes, Validators, and Plugins, enabling transparent and programmable block building while mitigating Maximal Extractable Value (MEV). Key ecosystem players like Figment and Helius are early participants, with mainnet rollout imminent.

Ethereum validators are also signaling support for raising the gas limit to 45 million units, up from February’s 36 million, potentially improving transaction throughput without requiring a hard fork. Meanwhile, Dogecoin developers proposed integrating zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) verification via DogeOS, starting with the widely used Groth16 proof. This modular upgrade would pave the way for advanced applications like rollups and smart contracts without impacting legacy nodes.

In other developments, prediction market Polymarket is weighing a proprietary stablecoin to capture reserve yields, while SharpLink Gaming, led by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, boosted its ether holdings to $1.3 billion after a significant weekly purchase. Regulatory momentum continues in the U.S. with President Donald Trump signing the GENIUS Act, the first federal framework for stablecoin issuers, marking a milestone for crypto policy.