Why does it take time to stake, unstake, or claim rewards?

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The Ethereum protocol uses 'queues' to mitigate the negative security impact of sizable changes in the amount of staked ETH.

Activation queue

The activation queue is the time it takes for a validator to become active after it was deposited. The queue involves two steps:

1. Initialization: It takes at least 16 hours for your validator to be activated. During this interim period, your ETH is already held in the official Beacon Chain deposit contract, but your validator is not yet in the activation queue.
2. Activation queue: At the time of writing, the Ethereum protocol activates 8 validators every 6.4 minutes, which is about 1,800 validators per day. Depending on the number of validators that were in the queue before your validator, it can take minutes or days for your validator to activate.

In the user interface, we show you how long it will take for your validator to be activated:

You can also visualize the historic activation queue here.

Exit queue

The exit queue is the time it takes for a validator to be exited — the process that begins when you unstake — and stop performing its duties. It follows a similar procedure to activation:

1. Initialization: It can take a couple of hours for the validator exit message to be broadcast across the network.
2. Exit queue: At the time of writing, the Ethereum protocol can exit 15 validators every 6.4 minutes, which is about 3,375 validators per day. Depending on the number of validators that were in the queue before your validator, it can take minutes or days for your validator to activate. Historically, the exit queue is less than a day (see here).

注記

Once your validator is exited, the funds are not yet claimable. Your validator must first be "swept" by the Ethereum protocol, as described below.

Sweep delay

The sweep delay is the time it takes for funds on your validator balance to become claimable. Funds in this state can be described as a 'partial withdrawal'.

• When your validator is active, the Ethereum protocol takes any ETH above 32 ETH in the validator balance and sends it to your reward address.
• When your validator is exited, the Ethereum protocol takes the entire validator balance and sends it to your reward address.

The Ethereum protocol sweeps validators one after the other, in cycles: the more validators there are on Ethereum, the longer it will take to cycle through the entire set.

注記

The "sweep" mechanism uses state updates rather than transactions, so it isn't recorded onchain in the conventional way.