Ethereum’s Shapella Mainnet Upgrade Approaches: Zhejiang Testnet Live

The Ethereum community is gearing up for the highly-anticipated mainnet upgrade, Shapella. After extensive testing and development, the upgrade has entered its final pre-launch sequence, the public testnets, according to the official blog post from Ethereum Foundation.

The Zhejiang testnet is now live and available for stakers, node operators, and infrastructure providers to test the Shapella upgrade.

The first of the long-standing public testnets, Sepolia, is set to undergo the upgrade on February 28th. Shapella boasts several new features, but most notably, it will enable withdrawals for stakers and validators.

Shapella boasts several upgrades, but the most exciting news for stakers and the consensus layer is the enabling of withdrawals. Full withdrawals will be available for exited validators, while active validators with balances exceeding 32 ETH can avail of partial withdrawals.

However, to participate in withdrawals, validators must have a 0x01 execution-layer withdrawal credential. Those with a 0x00 BLS withdrawal credential must sign a change operation to upgrade to 0x01.

Ethereum Withdrawals Unveiled: Shapella Upgrade Brings Big Changes

According to the Ethereum Developers blog, Stakers, node operators, infrastructure providers, and ETH enthusiasts, now are the time to familiarize users with the Shapella upgrade and test their software. As each public testnet gets upgraded, the mainnet is expected to follow soon if all goes well.

The Shapella upgrade is a crucial step in the growth and development of the ETH network, and all community members will feel its impact. The ETH Foundation has issued a call to action for all those who want to be a part of this exciting new chapter.

Ethereum Invites Academics To Join the Shapella Upgrade Journey

The Academic Grants Round is also live and accepting applications from academics around the world who want to work on projects in the Ethereum orbit. This year’s program features a new wishlist covering topics from cryptography to protocol design and even a new category for humanities. 

Projects in any domain related to Ethereum, such as the protocol, security, applications, impact, and community, will be considered.

However, with the deadline for applications set for February 27th, 2023, now is the time to get creative and join the Ethereum community on this exciting journey. 

The Shapella upgrade promises to bring significant changes to the Ethereum network, and academics will have a chance to play a crucial role in shaping its future.

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