MetaMask has proactively exited approximately 17,000 validators holding about 523,000 ETH following a security breach that redirected transaction fee rewards to an address funded through Tornado Cash. The attacker reportedly captured only about 0.36 ETH, but uncertainty remains about whether validator signing keys were exposed, which could trigger slashing penalties. This wave of exits has pushed Ethereum’s withdrawal queue to 773,447 ETH, the largest backlog since December 2025, with an estimated 13-day, 10-hour wait time for validators to clear the exit queue. Lido, where MetaMask operates validators, estimates the full exit, withdrawal and re-entry process could take up to 45 days, while 821 potentially affected validators have not yet been deactivated.
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