As Ethereum pushes a plan to improve validator withdrawal procedures, a problem is coming into focus: new validators may have to wait about 3 weeks to receive staking rewards.

As of Oct. 15, the Ethereum staking entry queue stood at 1,282,776 ETH, with an estimated wait time of 22 days and 6 hours, blockchain media outlet CryptoSlate reported on Tuesday. As of 2117 UTC on Oct. 14, the queue was 1,260,628 ETH, with an estimated wait of 21 days and 21 hours.

Ethereum Improvement Proposal EIP-8061 would keep the validator entry limit at 256 ETH per epoch. It would change the withdrawal limit from a fixed value to one linked to the active staking volume. With each epoch taking about 6.4 minutes, up to about 57,600 ETH could enter staking per day if entry capacity remains at its maximum.

The proposal also assigns separate processing capacity for validator consolidation. In an example assuming 36 million ETH in staking, withdrawal throughput rises to about four times the existing limit and validator consolidation capacity roughly doubles. Withdrawals would still not be unlimited, and the processing limit would vary with the active staking volume.

As of Oct. 15, EIP-8061 was in last call, the final review stage, with a Nov. 1 deadline for comments. Ethereum's Glamsterdam roadmap said the proposal was slated for inclusion, and mainnet deployment was expected in the fourth quarter, but no specific date was confirmed. Gloas, the Glamsterdam consensus-layer fork, also had no designated mainnet activation epoch.

New validators cannot receive their own staking rewards until they are activated. Existing active validators earn ETH rewards by performing validation, but new depositors must wait until rewards actually begin, creating an opportunity cost for that period.

For example, if a validator that deposits 32 ETH remains inactive for 21.875 days, the estimated wait as of Oct. 14, the reward an active validator could earn over the same period would be about 0.038 ETH, 0.058 ETH and 0.077 ETH at annual yields of 2 percent, 3 percent and 4 percent, assuming a constant annual reward rate. Applying a 10 percent reward fee reduces those amounts to about 0.035 ETH, 0.052 ETH and 0.069 ETH. Lido's token consolidation guide specifies that fee rate. This is a simple calculation that excludes compounding effects as well as costs, taxes, penalties and alternative returns, and solo validators may not have to bear that fee.

If users deposit ETH into Lido's mainnet core pool, they receive stETH, a liquid staking token. Deposited funds may remain in the pool buffer or sit in Ethereum's validator entry queue, so it can take time before rewards begin.

Under Lido's share accounting method, a user's token balance reflects the share it represents of the overall pool. That includes buffer funds, active validator balances, funds waiting to enter, and deposits made since the last report. Separate staking vaults use an independent collateral and share accounting system, so this description is limited to the core pool.

New depositors can secure a share of the pool and participate in later reward distribution even before their funds generate rewards. If new funds flow in while existing validators' reward amounts remain the same, more capital shares the existing rewards. That can lower the reward rate relative to capital for both new depositors and existing holders. This does not immediately reduce principal, but dilutes returns per unit of capital as additional funds that do not contribute to reward generation are added.