• Ethereum testnet Zhejiang has successfully processed staked ETH withdrawals, which is the first step towards the Shanghai upgrade.
• Validators have been staking ETH and gathering rewards since the release of the proof-of-stake “Beacon Chain” in December 2020.
• With the Zhejiang upgrade, validators will be able to withdraw 16 million staked ETH and receive certain network rewards.

Ethereum Testnet Processes Staked ETH Withdrawals

The Ethereum ecosystem is another step closer to its historic transition to a fully-featured proof-of-stake network as a testnet, Zhejiang, processed its first withdrawals of staked ETH. Developers‘ and users‘ test code changed to their application with testnets, which are duplicates of the main blockchain.

First Step Towards Shanghai Upgrade

Following the first testnet upgrade are the Sepolia and Goerli updates. According to an explorer website that tracks transactions on the system, the Ethereum testnet performed the withdrawal process early Tuesday. This happened after it launched last week. Also, the upgrade was triggered at epoch 1350 at 15:00 UTC and concluded at 15:13 UTC. The Zhejiang upgrade is designed as a dress rehearsal in preparation for the Shanghai update. The Shanghai update is expected to occur in March, and it is the blockchain’s first major upgrade since its transition to POS in September last year.

Validators Can Now Cash Out

After years of staking ETH, validators can finally cash out their portions following Ethereum’s transition from Proof-of-Work protocol to Proof-of-Stake protocol last year. Validators were required to stake 32 ETH with the chain in order to participate in block validation princesses which also granted them access to certain network rewards for their efforts. Following this transition, validators were informed that accumulated rewards along with their staked ETH would remain locked until another update occurred onchain.

What’s Next?

The successful completion of this withdrawal process marks an important milestone for Ethereum’s development team as they continue making strides towards transitioning into a fully POS based system later this month with Shanghai Upgrade scheduled for March 2021 launch date.

Conclusion

The progress made by developers on Ethereum’s upgrades demonstrates their commitment towards creating more efficient systems while also rewarding users who stake their tokens onchain accordingly through certain network benefits and unlocked rewards associated with participating in block validation processes.