Ethereum network reaches 1 million validators, about 32 million Ethereum has been staked

As reported by U.Today, the Ethereum network has reached a major milestone, with the number of validators reaching 1 million. Ethereum developer Terence Tsao celebrated the milestone on social media. According to the screenshot, Ethereum active validators have reached 1,000,012, while the total number of pending validators is 14,379.

This milestone is accompanied by an impressive number, about 32 million Ethereum has been staked (32,000,026 ETH). This number accounts for about 26% of the total supply of Ethereum, showing that the participation in ETH staking is quite high. Validators are crucial to the Ethereum network, especially since the switch to the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism in September 2022. They are responsible for storing data, processing transactions, and adding new blocks to the blockchain, a role previously undertaken by miners in the Proof of Work (PoW) model, thereby keeping Ethereum secure and earning new ETH in the process.

Reaching one million validators is more than just a statistic; it represents the huge trust and resources that users are willing to invest in keeping the ETH network running. Currently, the Ethereum network is preparing for a new upgrade: Electra is the name of the consensus layer (CL) upgrade for the next hard fork that will be planned on Ethereum. Deneb is the latest hard fork activated on Ethereum.