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The next software upgrade for Ethereum is planned for March
Upgrading the network to facilitate staked Ether withdrawals is of "the highest priority," says Tim Beiko from the Ethereum Foundation.
The next software update for the Ethereum blockchain, which uses the cryptocurrency Ether (ETH) to safeguard the network, is anticipated to be released in March.
According to cryptocurrency data tracker Dune, 15.57 million Ether, or nearly 13% of all the tokens, are currently held in specialised staking wallets that assist arrange transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. With thousands of apps, the network is the largest commercial thoroughfare in the cryptocurrency industry. Owners of staked ETH get yield, but they can't get their money out until the Shanghai software upgrade, which is coming soon.
Enabling staked ETH withdrawals is expected to drive more users into staking, and to further improve security of the network. The prior upgrade known as the Merge replaced Ethereum’s power-hungry computers called miners with so-called validators in September.
Tim Beiko, from the Ethereum Foundation took to twitter after the year’s final core devs meeting to summarise what was addressed.
@ethereum@trent_vanepps@mkalinin2@elbuenmayini@peter_szilagyi@benjaminion_xyz So, we agreed that while EIP-4844 wouldn't be in Shanghai, it would be the main thing around which we centre the next EL upgrade as well, matching what is specified on the CL, and that we should get this upgrade out relatively quickly after Shanghai.
— timbeiko.eth ☀️ (@TimBeiko)
7:56 PM • Dec 8, 2022
During the meeting, he also said, “This is clearly the highest priority for everybody,” reassuring supporters of the foundation that measures are being taken to revitalise growth in the space after a rocky few months.
The future of the Ethereum network and ETH is bright. It's easy to see why people are starting to buy into the currency and invest in its potential for growth. The benefits to staking ETH include earning money from holding tokens in your wallet and helping to secure the network by providing computing power. This makes it more likely that you will earn more ETH through rewards over time than if you just hold them in an exchange wallet or sell them outright at a fixed price per coin.
Ethereum developers have often delayed upgrades to make sure they go smoothly, so the timing of the upgrade could still shift.