Ethereum’s Shanghai Mainnet Takes a Giant Leap Forward with the Launch of “Shadow Fork”

• According to Etherscan, the upgrade will allow approximately 16 million ether that has been staked into the network to be unlocked.

The $26 billion worth of ETH staked with the largest smart contract network in the world is now one step closer to being accessible to Ethereum users.

The first mainnet shadow fork intended to test the viability of the ETH staking withdrawal capability, a feature planned to activate by March, was successfully deployed according to an announcement made on Monday by Ethereum’s core developer.

The “Shadow Fork” is a test version of the Shanghai mainnet upgrade that allows developers and individuals, to test the new features before they are implemented on the live Ethereum network. This test version is a shadow of the mainnet and allows for the identification of any issues before the upgrade is fully implemented.

Mainnet shadow forks are complete system upgrade dress rehearsals that let engineers check for design flaws and fix any lingering problems. The test on Monday gave users a sneak peek at Ethereum’s much-awaited Shanghai update which will bring staked ETH withdrawals to the ecosystem.

The network switched to a proof-of-stake method after Ethereum’s historic merger in September, and Shanghai will be the first significant update since then. The integration also made it possible for users to deposit ETH with the network in order to sign up as validators and aid in on-chain transaction authentication. In exchange, these users have been allowed to earn prizes in the form of freshly created ETH.

Since December 2020, users have staked about $26.5 billion worth of ETH in order to receive these benefits. However, once Shanghai is put into place those users won’t be able to withdraw either their freshly created ETH or the initial ETH deposits.

Despite a few small difficulties that have now been resolved, Ethereum core engineer Marius Van Der Wijden tweeted on Monday that the first ETH withdrawal mainnet shadow fork has launched successfully. It appears that Ethereum will continue to offer ETH withdrawal functionalities over the course of the next five to eight weeks.

Shanghai was initially anticipated to include additional highly anticipated improvements such as proto-danksharding, a streamlined data sampling procedure that would make layer-2 transactions on Ethereum significantly cheaper and faster. To ensure that ETH withdrawals start in March, the update was delayed.

A few of Ethereum’s core developers voiced their dissatisfaction last week over the decision to forgo an update to the encoding technique used to launch Shanghai. 

The launch of the upgrade will surely have a big influence on the cryptocurrency markets. The freedom to withdraw money at any time for ETH holders, according to analysts at JP Morgan may usher in a new era of staking for Coinbase, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange that has lost value since the start of the most recent crypto winter last May.

A significant component of the Shanghai mainnet upgrade for Ethereum is the “Shadow Fork”. The upgrade aims to increase the Ethereum network’s scalability and security which will eventually be advantageous to users and developers. With the “Shadow Fork“ going live, the Shanghai mainnet upgrade is one step closer to being fully implemented.

Nancy J. Allen is a crypto enthusiast and believes that cryptocurrencies inspire people to be their own banks and step aside from traditional monetary exchange systems. She is also intrigued by blockchain technology and its functioning.

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