What Is the Ethereum Blockchain’s Shanghai Hard Fork, and Why Does It Matter?

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In March, Ethereum underwent its first major upgrade – also known as a “hard fork” – which changed to a Source-share system In September. Once Ethereum’s upcoming “Shanghai” upgrade is complete, 16 million stake Ether (ETH) will be returned by moderators to help run the network.

Although the main focus of Shanghai should be implementation Ethereum development proposal-4895 – Change to unlock validator withdrawals – The update’s full list of changes has now been finalized and includes additional improvements that Ethereum app developers and users of the multi-chain may notice.

What is EIP-4895?

Shanghai Star EIP-4895This will free up validators to withdraw the 16 million ETH they have so far “contributed” to help secure the network.

When Ethereum changed its consensus mechanism from Proof of employment (PoW) is required Evidence-share (PoS) in its last major upgrade, dubbed Merging, the network started using validators instead of miners to add blocks to the blockchain. To participate in the block validation process, validators must stake 32 ETH with the chain. Each staked ETH acts like a kind of lottery ticket: the more a validator stakes, the more likely they are to be selected to “propose” the next batch of Ethereum transactions and receive some network rewards.

Before moderators agreed to participate in the PoS blockchain, they were informed that their participating ETH and any accrued rewards would be locked until the next update on the chain. Validators have been receiving ETH and receiving rewards since December 2020 when Ethereum released the first step to unify its PoS “Beacon Chain”. Now, those validators can finally cash in on their stake.

What is the significance of the Shanghai Hard Fork?

EIP-4895 is a key focus for the upgrade, as stakers can start cashing in on the rewards they’ve earned over the past two years or gain more control over their funds given the uncertainty in the crypto markets in the past. year.

But in addition to accessing locked funds, PoS blockchains are not fully featured since going live. Even if the blockchain works perfectly today, shareholders need to lock up their funds in order to keep Ethereum running. Now with a mechanism to unlock staked ETH, the entire functionality of the proof-of-stake blockchain will come to life, meaning stakeholders can finally have control over their funds and decide what to do with their rewards.

read more: Ethereum in 2023: Here’s What to Expect

How can a validator remove its ETH?

If you run a validator, There are two options for unstaking Your ETH as soon as Shanghai goes live. The first is to set up a “Reclaim Credential” which will automatically remove your earned rewards from your validator. The second option is to completely exit the beacon chain, remove 32 ETH, and send a message to your validator to voluntarily remove itself from the blockchain.

As for how soon you can access the ETH you want to remove, “it depends on how many people remove the stake at a time,” Marius van der Wijden, developer of the Ethereum Foundation, told CoinDesk. only 16 Partial withdrawal requests can be put into a slot (this happens every 12 seconds), and the blockchain has a queue for full and partial withdrawals. But the probability of all validators choosing to exit the blockchain is slim, as staking will enable a new chapter for Ethereum and those trading on top of it.

Are Crypto Traders Rushing to Sell Their ETH?

As the new era of unlocked ETH begins, crypto traders are paying attention to how the market might move. Some traders believe There will be some selling pressure once stacked ETH opens, and other traders say Shanghai will encourage more staking.

Currently, There is about 1 million ETH Accumulated rewards instantly redeemable upon arrival live in Shanghai. Traders will notice that Unlocked ETH will be immediately cashed out and if that pushes the price of ETH down.

read more: Crypto traders are already betting on Ethereum’s ‘Shanghai hard fork’

What else is on the Shanghai Hard Fork?

The four smaller EIPs included in Shanghai are related to gas fees – a type of tax that users pay to transact on the Ethereum blockchain. Gas fees can be expensive during periods of high activity, and Ethereum developers are aiming to add mechanisms to reduce high gas fees for builders on the blockchain.

EIP-3651 “COINBASE” proposes to access the address, the software used by validators and block builders, at low gas prices. (Aside: This is completely unrelated to the crypto exchange Coinbase.) The code conversion could be improved. Maximum extractable value (MEV) payments and other user experiences, according to Matt Nelson, product manager at ConsenSys.

“This EIP corrects a previous oversight on the cost of accessing a COINBASE address and provides some additional benefits to users and developers that unlock new use cases,” Nelson told CoinDesk.

Other EIPs in the package:

  • EIP-3855 – Generates code called “Push0” that reduces gas costs for developers
  • EIP-3860 – Puts a limit on gas cost for developers when interacting with ‘initcode’ (code used by developers for smart contracts)
  • EIP-6049 – Informs developers about the depreciation of the code called “SELFDESTRUCT”, which is related to the reduction of gas charges.

What’s Next for Ethereum After the Shanghai Hard Fork

The developers decided to keep the scope of Shanghai relatively small, mainly because participating ETH withdrawals will be released as soon as possible. As a result, some other major changes to the Ethereum protocol were pushed back from Shanghai to the third quarter of 2023.

They include “Proto-tankarding,” an admittedly ominous-sounding term, that refers to a method of making blockchain more scalable by dividing the network across multiple chains or “shards.”

Also on the horizon are changes to the EVM Object Format (EOF), which includes a number of minor enhancements. Ethereum Virtual Machine.

This article appeared first Valid pointsCoinDesk’s weekly newsletter breaks down the evolution of Ethereum and its impact on crypto markets. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every Wednesday.

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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