• Ethereum’s Sepolia testnet has successfully upgraded its Shapella upgrade, simulating the upcoming Shanghai hard fork expected to take place on mainnet in March.
• The upgrade enables validators to withdraw their staked Ether from the Beacon Chain back to the execution layer and allows them to keep validating or fully withdraw rewards in excess of 32 ETH.
• The next step before the Shanghai fork goes live on the mainnet will be to release the upgrade on the Ethereum Goerli testnet, which is expected to commence in March.
Ethereum Testnet Successfully Forks in Shanghai Upgrade Rehearsal
The Ethereum blockchain’s Sepolia testnet has undergone a successful upgrade that simulates the upcoming Shanghai hard fork expected to take place on mainnet in March. Combining names of both forks, this “Shapella” upgrade was successfully implemented on the testnet on Feb. 28.
Validator Withdrawal Options
Validators needed to stake 32 Ether (ETH) to validate on the Ethereum blockchain. They will now be able to withdraw rewards in excess of 32 ETH and be permitted to keep validating while those who wish to fully withdraw can take all 32 ETH plus rewards and cease validating.
Goerli Testnet Release
The next step before the Shanghai fork goes live on the mainnet will be to release the upgrade on the Ethereum Goerli testnet, which is expected to commence in March.
Previous Fork-Related Developments
In related news, Lido Finance recently activated a staking rate limit after more than 150,000 ETH were staked into its system and Ukraine netted $70 million in crypto donations since beginning of Russia conflict according to an article published by Cointelegraph earlier this month.
Conclusion
The Shapella Upgrade is an important development for Ethereum as it prepares for its upcoming hard fork scheduled for later this year. Once released onto Goerli TestNet, users should expect further upgrades leading up until launch day when it will go live onto MainNet.