The Ethereum blockchain, one of the most popular decentralized networks, is set to undergo an upgrade known as the Shanghai-Capella upgrade, or Shapella for short.
The core developers of the blockchain have scheduled the launch of the upgrade on the Sepolia test network for February 28 at epoch 56832, according to an official announcement.
The upgrade is primarily aimed at enabling ether (ETH) withdrawals from network validators, a feature that wasn’t enabled during the network’s transition to proof-of-stake consensus, called The Merge.
The upgrade combines changes to the execution layer (Shanghai) and the consensus layer (Capella). Shanghai will upgrade the execution layer of Ethereum, while Capella will upgrade the consensus layer of the blockchain.
To ensure a smooth transition to the final upgrade in March, developers have planned multiple phases of public testing.
The upcoming launch on Sepolia is the second public testnet to deploy the upgrade. Shapella has already been tested on the Zhejiang testnet earlier this month, which revealed some minor bugs that have since been fixed.
After deploying Shapella on the Sepolia testnet, developers will move to the Goerli testnet in early March for the final phase of dress rehearsal ahead of the mainnet launch.
The mainnet launch is expected to happen early in March, and users can look forward to an enhanced Ethereum network with improved functionality and performance.
