- Ethereum is now an entirely proof-of-stake network
- Validators can perform unstaking via full withdrawals and partial withdrawals
Ethereum’s Shanghai hard fork has come to an end. Now, users who have staked ether can withdraw their assets to safeguard and validate transactions on the blockchain. Ether has gained less than 3% in the last 24 hours according to Coinmarketcap.
The upgrade started at 22:27 UTC last night and ended about 20 minutes later. Soon after the end, the Mainnet processed 285 withdrawals, equivalent to about $10 million, CoinDesk reported, citing data of beaconcha.in.
The end of a multiyear transition
Ethereum is now an entirely proof-of-stake network. In these networks, users stake digital assets to guarantee the security and confirmation of new data blocks.
In 2022, the Ethereum Mainnet abandoned its proof-of-work consensus system, which Bitcoin still uses. So far, however, users had not been able to redeem rewards or withdraw their staked ether, which are two critical features of the new system.
Ethereum Mainnet cofounder Vitalik Buterin said on occasion of the upgrade:
We're in a stage where the hardest and fastest parts of the Ethereum protocol's transition are basically over. Very significant things still need to be done, but those very significant things can be safely done at a slower pace.
Ways to unstake
The two main ways, in which validators can perform unstaking are full withdrawals and partial withdrawals. With full withdrawals, stakers redeem their original principal and exit the chain. When this happens, the validator stops taking part in the process of block validation and stops contributing to network security.
As full withdrawals aren’t automatic like partial ones, validators that want to leave the chain must send a message so the chain includes them in the queue.
With partial withdrawals, stakers only redeem their rewards from staking, but leave the original principal that was staked. Lone stakers that operate their own validators must move their credentials to a 0x01 withdrawal credential. If they don’t do so, partial withdrawals cannot take place automatically.
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