Ahead of Shapella: Only 0.6% of ETH Validators Chose to Withdraw So Far

With Ethereum’s long-awaited Shapella upgrade just around the corner, it seems very few network users plan to put the protocol change to immediate use. 

Data from IntoTheBlock shows that just 0.6% of Ethereum validators are planning to withdraw their stake after the hard fork. 

• As tweeted by the market intelligence provider on Tuesday, just 3,614 out of 562,717 Ethereum validators had chosen to withdraw their stake as of April 10. 
• Meanwhile, the upgrade rolls out at block 6209536, which occurs at 10:27:35 PM UTC on April 12. 
• The Shapella upgrade is a follow-up to the famous Merge update in September 2022, which switched Ethereum’s consensus mechanism from proof of work to proof of stake. The former used energy to secure the blockchain, while the latter model uses cryptocurrency instead, and is considered more energy-efficient. 
• Shapella is a combination of the “Shanghai” and “Copella” upgrades, which will enable ETH staking withdrawals on both Ethereum’s execution and consensus layers respectively.
• This is the first time users will be able to withdraw their stake since Ethereum’s beacon chain rolled out in December 2020. 
• A look at Ethereum’s staking contract shows that over 18.14 million ETH worth over $34.7 billion is currently staked on Ethereum. That’s roughly 15% of all ETH in circulation. 
• Many have suspected that unlocking all of that for withdrawal could trigger a market dump from investors who would have otherwise cashed out by now. Last month, Crypto exchange Coinbase said it anticipates a high volume of withdrawal requests once the update is live, which could take “weeks to months” to fully process. 
• Following the Merge in September, Ethereum’s price fell immediately after initially pumping in anticipation of the upgrade.