- Ethereum plans to deploy the Shanghai/Capella upgrade on Sepolia testnet
- The update is scheduled to test staked ETH withdrawals.
- The Shanghai-Capella was earlier tested on the Zhejiang testnet but developers discovered minor bugs.
Ethereum developers have announced a scheduled test of the Shanghai/Capella (Shapella) upgrade for February 28. This test will run on the Sepolia testnet to validate staked ETH withdrawals on Ethereum’s proof-of-stake network.
Running Shapella on Sepolia brings the network one step closer to enabling withdrawals of ETH staked on the Beacon Chain. According to the Ethereum team, “The Shapella upgrade combines changes to the execution layer (Shanghai), consensus layer (Capella) and the Engine API.”
Shanghai upgrade
The Shanghai portion introduces several execution-layer improvements: Warm COINBASE, the PUSH0 instruction, limits and metering for initcode, treating Beacon Chain push withdrawals as explicit operations, and deprecating SELFDESTRUCT. These changes are reflected in the new Python reference implementation for the execution layer, the Ethereum Execution Layer Specification (EELS).
Capella upgrade
On the consensus side, Capella enables both full and partial withdrawals for validators and adds BLSToExecutionChange messages. These messages allow validators using a BLS_WITHDRAWAL_PREFIX to transition to an ETH1_ADDRESS_WITHDRAWAL_PREFIX, a prerequisite for executing withdrawals. Capella also introduces independent state and block historical accumulators to replace the previous singular historical roots.
Unlocking more than 16 million staked ETH
Validators are awaiting the ability to withdraw more than 16 million ETH that have been staked in the Beacon Chain contract since 2020. The release of staked ETH will be a major milestone for the network and for those who have committed funds to secure Ethereum.
Beyond validators, many market participants are watching to see how the ability to withdraw staked ETH will affect market dynamics and the Ethereum price. Some observers expect that enabling withdrawals could draw increased institutional participation and potentially contribute to upward price pressure on ETH, depending on how holders and institutions respond.