Liquid staking entered Q2 2026 with a divergence: in USD terms, the sector is weakening sharply, but in ETH terms, user participation remains close to record levels.

Jul 10, 2026

1 min read

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1. USD TVL Signals Market Weakness

Total TVL across liquid staking protocols fell to $33.4B in Q2 2026, down 56.1% from its ATH of $76B recorded in Q3 2025.

The decline has now continued for three consecutive quarters:

Q4 2025 — $61.4B
Q1 2026 — $45.2B
Q2 2026 — $33.4B

This reflects continued weakness across DeFi, where falling asset prices and lower risk appetite are reducing the dollar value of capital locked in protocols.

2. ETH TVL Shows the Sector Is Still Growing

The picture looks different when measured in ETH. TVL in Ethereum liquid staking protocols declined only slightly to 14.5M ETH in Q2 2026, down 1.3% from the ATH of 14.7M ETH in Q1.

Since Q2 2023, liquid staking TVL in ETH terms has increased from 8.6M ETH to 14.5M ETH, a gain of around 68%.

This shows that the core demand for ETH liquid staking remains resilient. Users aren’t leaving the sector aggressively; instead, the USD-denominated decline mainly reflects weaker market conditions.

Conclusion

Liquid staking is under pressure in dollar terms, but the underlying ETH base remains strong. The sector is no longer expanding as aggressively as before, yet it continues to hold a near-record amount of staked ETH.

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1. USD TVL Signals Market Weakness
2. ETH TVL Shows the Sector Is Still Growing
Conclusion

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

What is Actually Happening to Liquid Staking?

1. USD TVL Signals Market Weakness

2. ETH TVL Shows the Sector Is Still Growing

Conclusion

Table of Contents

Table of Contents