Ethereum Launches Seven Testnets in One Epic Week of Preparations for Shanghai

Parithosh, an Ethereum Foundation developer, has made it known on Twitter that a combined seven testnets have been launched within the space of a week as preparations for Shanghai continue.

Parithosh stated, «I think the team has launched a combined 7 testnets in a week! — across shadow forks, shapella, verkle, and 4844. I think that’s a new record.»

I think the team has launched a combined 7 testnets in a week! — across shadow forks, shapella, verkle and 4844. I think that’s a new record 😀

— parithosh | ???? (@parithosh_j) February 1, 2023

Parithosh was responding to a tweet by Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko, who noticed the ease with which testnets were being launched on Ethereum Layer 1.

Beiko tweeted: «The rate at which we’ve gotten better at launching testing infra on Ethereum L1 is pretty wild. A new testnet used to be a really big deal, but now it feels almost routine.»

The first withdrawal testnet explorer has been launched. The first public withdrawals testnet, the Zhejiang public testnet, was slated to launch on Feb. 1 at 3:00 p.m. UTC.

Following the launch, the Shanghai and Capella upgrades will be triggered six days later (at epoch 1350) on the testnet.

In the past week, the first mainnet shadow fork intended to test the viability of the ETH staking withdrawal capability, a feature expected to launch by March, was successfully deployed.

Expectations rise on Shanghai update

The Shanghai hard fork, scheduled to launch in March, is keenly anticipated by Ethereum users. This will allow withdrawals from the Beacon Chain for stakers.

Currently, 14% of the Ethereum supply is staked. The Shanghai fork will allow owners to unstake, but withdrawals will be queued due to longer unstaking times. In this way, the total amount of ETH staked will not immediately enter the market after the Shanghai fork.

Etherscan data shows that over 16 million Ethereum (ETH), or nearly $26 million, have now been deposited into Ethereum’s Beacon Chain staking contract.

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