- Ethereum stakers can start to withdraw their funds on April 12
- The Shapella upgrade has been set for this date, the most important event since last year’s merge
- Each 32-ETH staker has made a theoretical $36,500 profit since their Beacon Chain deposit
Ethereum stakers will be able to withdraw their ETH from the Beacon Chain on April 12 following the announcement of the Shapella upgrade date. Stakers have been waiting since November 2020, when they first filled up the deposit contract, to withdraw their funds and their staked ETH. The upgrade is being celebrated by Ethereum developers, holders and stakers alike, with fears that mass withdrawals will flood the market alleviated by mechanisms put in place by the Ethereum team.
Two Weeks to (Gradual) Withdrawal
The Shapella upgrade was announced in a blog post yesterday from the Ethereum Foundation, which revealed that, following a “smooth” Goerli transition, the Shapella upgrade activation date of April 12 has been set. The hard fork will introduce the capability for partial and full withdrawals, but several mechanisms have been implemented to ensure a flood of ETH doesn’t crash the price.
Data from Beaconcha.in shows that there are over 17.8 million ETH staked on the Beacon Chain, which means that over $31 billion can be incrementally unlocked over time. It’s been a profitable enforced hold for these individuals, with today’s ETH price of $1,753 being a near 3x return on the lock-in price, and with a minimum of 32 ETH staked by contributors that’s a handy $36,500 profit per person at the current price.
The Shapella upgrade is considered to be the most important upgrade since Paris, the September 2022 upgrade that saw ‘the merge’, when the network consensus mechanism changed from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.
