On April 12, 2023, the Shapella upgrade on the Ethereum mainnet was completed successfully, enabling Ethereum validators to withdraw their staked Ether (ETH) from the Beacon chain.
According to Beacon Chain, validators have withdrawn a total of 126,955.07 ETH. Around 44% or 248,043 validators out of the 559,549 active validators can request partial or full withdrawals.
Most validators are only withdrawing their staking rewards, with withdrawals ranging between 2.8 to 3.2 ETH. However, validators may be hesitant to withdraw their entire staked amount due to the current average cost of staked ETH at $3,149 and the current ETH price trading slightly below $2,000.
Several major cryptocurrency exchanges are processing withdrawal requests, with some supporting ETH unstaking. For example, Coinbase, the first publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange, announced yesterday that ETH unstaking is now available on its platform.
🥳🎉 The Shapella Upgrade is complete. Congratulations to the @Ethereum community! ETH unstaking is now enabled on https://t.co/bCG11KNnW0. https://t.co/JcTxAVphGZ
— Coinbase (@coinbase) April 12, 2023
Binance, the top cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume, announced support for the Shapella update and plans to start processing withdrawal requests on April 19. However, the exchange noted that processing time for withdrawal requests might take up to 15 days due to constraints.
#Binance will support $ETH 2.0 Staking withdrawals starting from April 19, 08:00 UTC.
Due to the processing limitations on the $ETH network, ETH withdrawal requests may take up to 15 days to several weeks to be fully processed.
More details here ⤵️https://t.co/L3iyon58lo
— Binance (@binance) April 13, 2023
BitGo’s COO, Chen Fang, confirmed the successful migration to Shapella and the availability of ETH withdrawals on the platform via Twitter. Similarly, Bitfinex congratulated the Ethereum development community and announced that validators on Ethereum’s PoS network can unstake their ETH on their platform.
Kraken started processing withdrawals for its US customers after the Shapella upgrade and began removing validators on April 11, 2023. This early withdrawal was due to the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) action against Kraken’s Ethereum staking product in February 2023.
🎉 Congratulations @ethereum on the successful completion of the Ethereum Shapella Upgrade!
Here’s what you need to know:
🔒 Your assets remain safe
😎 No action required from you
🔄 Continue earning rewards or start the unstaking process nowInfo: https://t.co/zSadOQDGZ5 pic.twitter.com/WrDn1khVUZ
— Kraken Exchange (@krakenfx) April 13, 2023
The Shapella upgrade was successfully implemented by Ethereum’s core developers through a hard fork, allowing users and validators to withdraw their staked ETH on the network. This marks the first significant modification since “The Merge” last year. The hard fork executed the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 4895, which enables users and validators to withdraw their staked ETH on the network.
The Shapella upgrade aims to improve the network’s efficiency and security by increasing block times and reducing block rewards. Additionally, it also introduces a new penalty mechanism for validators who do not follow the network’s rules.
The successful implementation of the Shapella upgrade is a significant milestone for Ethereum, as it marks a step forward in the network’s transition from a Proof-of-Work (PoW) to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. The upgrade is expected to further enhance Ethereum’s scalability, speed, and security, making it more accessible to a wider range of users and developers.
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