The Shapella hard fork was run on the Goerli Test Network, the largest Ethereum (ETH) test network. This is therefore the last test run before Ethereum validators can withdraw their ether from the staking contract. Goerli is also the most anticipated testnet, as it includes the most validators and is most similar to it mainnet from Ethereum. However, there were some issues with the hardfork on the Goerli test network.
Ethereum update on test network
Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko noticed that the process was not as smooth as it could have been. This had everything to do with the fact that several testnet validators had not upgraded their software before the Goerli hard fork. There was a participation rate of 29% at the time of the epoch was activated, which is particularly low for Ethereum.
Beiko blamed testnet validators for having “less incentive” to make the upgrade as the ETH on Goerli is worthless. He expects validators to make the appropriate adjustments prior to the fork on Ethereum’s mainnet.
What is Ethereum Shapella?
While the Shapella upgrade includes five different Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), EIP-4895 is by far the most anticipated as it takes Ethereum one step closer to being fully functional Proof-of-Stake system brings. EIP-4895 will finally allow the withdrawal of staked ETH.
Shapella is also a portmanteau of Shanghai and Capella, which are two names of hard forks for Ethereum. A hard fork is also an upgrade of the software that forces participants from the network to provide their nodes with new software.
Initially, the Shapella hardfork was supposed to take place in March, but recently you could read in the Ethereum news that the update is scheduled for the second week of April. However, a specific date has not yet been released.
After the Shapella update, validators can finally choose to withdraw their staking rewards on top of 32 ETH, the minimum amount of ETH required to activate validator software. Of course it is also possible to withdraw all credits and to give up acting as a validator.