Ethereum Withdrawals Imminent with Shapella Upgrade & Grants

Withdrawals are on the way.

Summary

• The Shanghai+Capella (referred to as Shapella) is approaching. Stakers, node operators, and infrastructure contributors — stay alert and perform tests!
• The Academic Grants Round is currently open! Applications must be submitted by February 27, 2023

Shapella is coming

After extensive testing and development, the Shanghai+Capella (Shapella) mainnet upgrade is now in the final phase before launch — public testnets!

The Zhejiang testnet is now live, inviting stakers and users to test Shapella today. Additionally, the well-established public testnet — Sepolia — is set to undergo the upgrade on February 28th.

Shapella introduces various features, with the most critical for stakers and the consensus layer being the ability to process withdrawals. Full withdrawals will be accessible for validators who have exited, while partial withdrawals will be available for active validator balances exceeding 32 ETH. To enable withdrawals, validators must possess a 0x01 execution-layer withdrawal credential. Validators currently using a 0x00 BLS withdrawal credential will need to sign a change operation to 0x01 to activate withdrawals.

For further information regarding withdrawal procedures and how to enable them for your validator, please refer to the ETH Withdrawals FAQ.

If you’re involved in Ethereum as a staker, node operator, infrastructure provider, or otherwise, now is the ideal time to familiarize yourself with the impending Shapella upgrade, test your systems, and stay informed. Following this, each public testnet will be upgraded, and with favorable conditions, the mainnet will soon follow.

The Academic Grants Round is now open

The Academic Grants Round is now accepting applications!

Building on last year’s success in engaging scholars globally to collaborate on Ethereum-related projects, the initiative has been revitalized with an exciting new wishlist that spans topics from cryptography to protocol design, including a new humanities category. Use these topics for inspiration, but let your creativity flow freely — projects in any Ethereum-related domain, including protocol, security, applications, impact, and community, will be evaluated.

Applications for Academic Grants are due by February 27, 2023. Apply today