• The Ethereum Shanghai hard fork and Capella upgrade (Shapella) have been completed, but ETH prices rose instead of the predicted ‘sell-the-news’ moment.
• Stakers had locked up 32 ETH in 2020 to become validators and had not been able to access their coins since then.
• Besu Protocol Engineer Justin Florentine said the upgrade was “probably the most sophisticated thing that any blockchain has attempted to do in public.”

Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade

The Ethereum Shanghai hard fork and Capella upgrade (collectively known as Shapella) have recently been completed, unlocking the ability for stakers to withdraw tokens they pledged as well as token payments received for doing so. Despite predictions of a ‘sell-the-news’ event, ETH prices actually rose to eight-month highs above $2,000 following the upgrades.

ETH Stakes Locked Up Since 2020

Stakers had previously locked up 32 ETH in 2020 when becoming validators on the proof-of-stake network and had not been able to access their coins since then. Besu Protocol Engineer Justin Florentine said that this upgrade was “probably the most sophisticated thing that any blockchain has attempted to do in public.”

High Price After Upgrades

Due to Ethereum’s successful upgrades, there was no mass unlock of staked ETH which bodes well for both Ethereum’s future and liquid staking derivatives. The price of ETH also rose significantly following these upgrades, reaching its highest point since last summer at over $2,000 per coin.

Reactions To The Upgrade

Reaction to this upgrade has been positive overall; many analysts were expecting a sell-off due to people cashing out their unlocked tokens but this did not happen. This is good news for both Ethereum’s future prospects and liquid staking derivatives.

Conclusion

Overall, it seems that Ethereum’s successful upgrades are having a positive effect on its outlook and its price performance compared with what some analysts had previously predicted. Although only time will tell if these gains will be sustained or whether prices will eventually drop again, one thing is certain: Ethereum is now better prepared than ever before for future developments in Web3 technology thanks to its recent successes with Shapella upgrades!