Onward to Ethereum’s much-anticipated Shanghai upgrade, with the landmark event scheduled for March.

The Ethereum Foundation’s team has communicated a crucial advancement in the march towards the Shanghai upgrade. As reported on their blog post dated Feb 10, the Shapella fork on the Zhejiang testnet has now entered its final stage before the official launch.

The Shapella transition comes with a host of features, with a prime focus on the activation of withdrawals, which bears considerable importance for the stakers and consensus-layer users. The Ethereum team clarified, “Exited validators will be granted access to full withdrawals, while active validators holding balances beyond 32 ETH can avail themselves of partial withdrawals.”

The announcement indicates that validators need a 0x01 execution-layer withdrawal credential to participate in withdrawals. Validators currently using a 0x00 BLS withdrawal credential need to sign a change operation to switch to 0x01 and enable withdrawals, the Ethereum team clarified.

The term ‘Shapella’ signifies two Ethereum upgrades — “Shanghai” and “Capella” — which provide for withdrawals on the execution layer and augment the Beacon Chain consensus layer. This is particularly pertinent for ETH stakers keen on comprehending the withdrawal procedures, given that full withdrawals necessitate interaction at the consensus layer.

Kickstarted on Feb. 1, the Zhejiang test network is the first of three testnets that mimic the forthcoming Shanghai upgrade, due for launch in March, with a specific date yet to be disclosed. The Sepolia testnet is due for the upgrade on Feb. 28, to be followed by the Goerli testnet. The Ethereum team suggests:

“Ethereum stakeholders, node operators, infrastructure providers, and related entities need to brace themselves for the impending Shapella upgrade, thoroughly test their software, and maintain their focus. Successive upgrades will be rolled out on each public testnet, and if everything aligns as per the plan, the mainnet will follow suit in short order.”

In the aftermath of the Shanghai upgrade, Ethereum’s roadmap features a series of updates named “Surge,” “Verge,” “Purge,” and “Splurge”. After Ethereum transitioned to proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus in September 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Chairman Gary Gensler hinted that Ethereum’s move to PoS could have put ETH under the regulatory spotlight.

Recently, Ethereum’s co-founder and well-known crypto entrepreneur, Joseph Lubin, exhibited confidence that Ether won’t be designated as a security in the United States. Drawing a comparison, Lubin stated, “I reckon it’s as probable, and would wield the same impact, as if Uber was outlawed.”