Layer by Layer: Ethereum Approaches a New Era with Shapella Upgrade

The Ethereum “Shapella” upgrade is scheduled to occur on April 12th, 2023, at roughly 6:27 PM EST, marking the 194,048th epoch since the Ethereum beacon chain was launched in December 2020. The impending upgrade will enable withdrawals of staked ETH and accrued ETH rewards for the first time in the network’s history, setting it up to be the most consequential upgrade since Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus in the Merge. Although not all of the ~18.1 million ETH currently staked can be withdrawn immediately after the upgrade is complete, the activation of a functional withdrawal mechanism nonetheless has the potential to significantly impact ETH’s supply, demand, and distribution in the future.  

In this piece, we will review the current state of the Ethereum ecosystem, taking a look at the key metrics and trends in the weeks leading up to this pivotal upgrade.