Ethereum (ETH) Developers Highlight Key Timelines in Shanghai Update Final Pre-Launch

Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko announces the positive news that the Sepolia Shapella upgrade has been scheduled.

Sepolia, which is the first of the long-standing public testnets, is scheduled to go through an upgrade Feb. 28.

Sepolia Shapella upgrade has been scheduled pic.twitter.com/9FLo7apAe0

— timbeiko.eth (@TimBeiko) February 10, 2023

The Ethereum Foundation announced in a blog post that the Shapella, which is the Shanghai + Capella mainnet upgrade, has entered the final pre-launch sequence, which includes public testnets.

Simply defined, Capella is a consensus-layer upgrade containing several features related to validator withdrawals. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s Shanghai update (EIP-4895) will allow ETH stakers to remove their staked funds as validators. These two make up the Shapella upgrade.

The Zhejiang testnet is already live as earlier reported and available for stakers and users to test Shapella. According to a blog post by the Ethereum Foundation, active validator balances over 32 ETH will be eligible for partial withdrawals, whereas exited validator holdings will only be eligible for full withdrawals.

Key timelines

The Shanghai + Capella (Shapella) is on the horizon. Although Shapella has several features, the one that matters most to stakers and the consensus layer is the ability to make withdrawals.

The Sepolia upgrade is slated for Feb. 28, as previously said.

Tim Beiko, an Ethereum developer, provided some timelines for the testnet deployment, according to Wu Blockchain.

Tim Beiko: Assuming everything goes well, we’d probably have another testnet mid march or so, and then mainnet either late march/early April, although it’s definitely not a “final” date. The mainnet date always depends on how well the testnet forks go. If we find a bug, we will… https://t.co/s7ybQ3pueu

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) February 11, 2023

Beiko stated that if everything goes as planned, another testnet could be released in mid-March, and the mainnet upgrade could happen in late March or early April, though this is not a “final” date.

He further added that the mainnet date depends on how well the testnet forks go. “If we find a bug, we will always delay and fix things to be safe,” Beiko stated.