Ethereum's Shanghai hard fork postponed by around two weeks

Image: Shutterstock

The expected release of the Shanghai hard fork by Ethereum developers has been postponed by around two weeks. 

The upgrade was initially planned to be launched in late March, but now it is expected to be rolled out in the first two weeks of April. 

The delay was disclosed during an Ethereum developer meeting on March 2. In the meeting, the main developers agreed that the Shanghai hard fork would take place approximately two weeks after the Goerli testnet release, which is scheduled for March 14. 

The Goerli testnet is going to be the last trial run before the Shanghai upgrade is implemented on the mainnet.

According to Tim Beiko, a coordinator and core developer of the Ethereum project, they typically give users at least two weeks' notice after making an announcement before implementing an upgrade on the main network. 

Assuming everything goes well with the Goerli testnet release on March 14, and they agree to proceed with the mainnet upgrade on March 16, the earliest possible time for the Shanghai hard fork to take place would be during the first week of April.

On March 2, Beiko mentioned in a series of tweets that they did not decide on a specific date for the mainnet release yet. However, they are likely to determine a date during the upcoming developers' meeting on March 16, given that the Goerli testnet runs smoothly.

The Shanghai Capella, which is also known as Shapella, will be the final opportunity for Ethereum clients and staking providers to make sure that the Shanghai hard fork can be carried out without any issues when it is eventually released on the main network. This mainnet upgrade has been highly anticipated, and it will allow the slow withdrawal of ETH that has been staked on Beacon Chain.

To ensure the stability and safety of the Ethereum network, withdrawals of ETH will be adjusted dynamically based on the number of validators who are exiting at any given time. Validators are required to complete a two-step process, which includes joining an exit queue and undergoing a withdrawal period. Consequently, the withdrawal of ETH will occur gradually over time.

Presently, there are about 17.1 million ETH staked on the Beacon Chain, which represents slightly over 14 percent of the total Ethereum supply and is valued at approximately $28 billion, given the current asset prices.

Shashank is the founder of yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash