According to a recent Ethereum Core development meeting on Dec. 8, developers disclosed that the next Ethereum hard fork, called Shanghai, could be implemented by March 2023. The Shanghai hard fork could be used to manage staked ethereum withdrawals.
Ethereum Devs Aim for Hard Fork Target ‘Around March-ish’
On Dec. 8, 2022, Ethereum Core developers convened for the 151st developers meeting, and a number of subjects were discussed including Ethereum’s next hard fork. The Merge was Ethereum’s last major hardfork. This significant change in the rules of the blockchain network made the network move from proof-of work (PoW), to proof-of stake (PoS). A hard fork’s change is backwards-incompatible, which means network users are required to update their node software.
At the meeting, developers explained that the next hard fork, called Shanghai, may get scheduled for sometime around March 2023. As the community has placed importance on the issue, Shanghai may also address network’s staked Ethereum withdrawals. At the time of writing, on Dec. 9, 2022, the Beacon Chain contract has 15,597,175 ether locked into the contract that’s worth roughly $19. 88 billion using ETH exchange rates today.
It has been known for a long time now that the ETH is locked into the Beacon Chain contract and it will require a hard fork to access the funds and possibly more than one. Tim Beiko, an Ethereum Core developer, acknowledged that withdrawals should be made quickly for most people and developers. Beiko stated, “This is clearly the top priority for everyone.” Beiko said, “People seem generally to want a goal around March-ish.”
Developers have also been discussing how to improve Ethereum’s throughput capacity and Ethereum’s software programmers have introduced the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 4844. EIP-4844 deals with concepts like proto-danksharding and shard blob transactions. Both of these concepts leverage technology that’s meant to implement a “new kind of transaction type to Ethereum which accepts ‘blobs’ of data to be persisted in the beacon node for a short period of time.”
This story contains tags
Beacon Chain Contract, Developers Meeting, EIP-4844, ETH Dev meeting, ETH Devs, ETH Staked Withdrawals, Ethereum core developers, Ethereum Developers, Ethereum Fork, Ethereum Hard Fork, Locked ETH, merge, proto-danksharding, Shanghai, shard blob transactions, Staking Withdrawals, Throughput Capacity, Withdrawals
What do you think about the latest Ethereum Core developers meeting and discussions about the Shanghai hard fork taking place in March 2023? Please comment below to let us know your thoughts on this topic.
Jamie Redman
Jamie Redman, a journalist and financial tech expert living in Florida, is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. Redman is passionate about Bitcoin, open-source codes, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 6,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. This article is not intended to be a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any products or services. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. The author and the company are not responsible for any loss or damage resulting from or in connection to the content, goods, or services discussed in this article.
Read More