Overview
• Ethereum successfully implemented the Shapella (Shanghai and Capella) upgrade on mainnet on Wednesday.
• ETH has had a surprising reaction to the historical upgrade, trading flat at $1,913.
• Withdrawals have been enabled and 73,214 ETH has been withdrawn so far.
Staking Withdrawals Enabled
ETH staking withdrawals were enabled on Wednesday at 11:27 PM UTC. Since then, ETH has been trading flat and is currently at $1,913, down 0.2% on the day according to data from CoinGecko. 27,181 withdrawals have been processed and 73,214 ETH distributed according to beaconcha.in. Five hundred sixty-six validators have already exited making up just 0.1% of the total validators. Justin Sun’s Huobi exchange can withdraw 39,776 ETH while PieDAO can withdraw 27,270 ETH and Kraken 19,616 ETH respectively.
The Impact of Shapella Upgrade
The Shapella upgrade marks the full implementation of the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism on Ethereum allowing users to enter and exit the staking program whenever they want without locking up ETH for significant amounts of time. As withdrawals speed up and more validators can exit the staking program however there might be potential selling pressure that could have an adverse effect on price action for Etheruem’s native token – ETH .
Significance
The Shapella upgrade is one of the largest upgrades in Ethereum’s history as it now allows users to stake their tokens with greater flexibility compared to before when they were locked up in staking contracts for longer periods of time. This increased flexibility could see more capital entering into Ethereum markets resulting in further appreciation in its native token – Etheruem (ETH).
Conclusion
Ethereum’s successful implementation of Shapella represents a monumental occasion as it offers users enhanced flexibility when it comes to staking their tokens while also providing a platform where major exchanges such as Huobi and Kraken can withdraw large sums of Etheruem (ETH). Nevertheless caution should be taken with respect to potential selling pressure when larger sums start being withdrawn from wallets which could result in a decrease in price action for Etheruem’s native token – ETH .