Ethereum is gearing up for its next major update, the Shanghai upgrade, scheduled to take place on April 12, 2023. The upgrade is a crucial one following the Merge last September, and it is expected to have a significant impact on the network’s more than 500,000 validators, according to data from BeaconScan, as of this March.

Source: BeaconScan

Shanghai Upgrade Explained

The Shanghai upgrade is a planned hard fork of the Ethereum protocol, as well as one of the vital additional steps between the Merge and Surge, as outlined by Ethereum’s scaling roadmap.

The Shanghai upgrade will implement multiple Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) that will have a significant impact on the network, including EIP-4895, EIP-3855, EIP-3860, and EIP-3651.

l EIP-4895

Since the launch of the Beacon Chain in December 2020, users interested in becoming validators on the Beacon Chain have been staking a certain amount of ETH on Ethereum to receive rewards. Staking is a one-way process in which users lock up cryptos to support the network and validate transactions and earn passive income. According to beaconcha.in, as of April 4, over 17 million ETH (worth about $32.8 billion) has been staked on the Beacon Chain.

Source: beaconcha.in

EIP-4895 represents the most crucial development of the Shanghai upgrade. As the upgrade will lift the staking lockup, stakers will be able to withdraw their ETH staked and choose more flexible staking mechanisms. In short, the lockup stage of ETH will soon end, and at that time users can freely stake/withdraw ETH.

l EIP-3855

EIP-3855 will introduce a new instruction called “PUSH0.” This instruction pushes zero when called in the contract code, which reduces Gas fees for developers and decreases storage size, thereby allowing for faster transactions on the network.

l EIP-3860

EIP-3860 is an extension of EIP-170 that limits the maximum size of initcode and facilitates fair charging for initcode when interacting with “initcode” code, thus reducing transaction fees.

l EIP-3651

EIP-3651 is a “Warm COINBASE” instruction. To better support COINBASE payment and make it cheaper to access COINBASE, the Shanghai upgrade will preheat COINBASE addresses during transaction execution through the protocol, reducing Gas fees and making COINBASE more accessible.

The most prominent change to be brought by the Shanghai upgrade is that it will improve the liquidity of stakers and validators by allowing them to withdraw their staked ETH. At the moment, Shapella (Shanghai and Capella upgrades) is already live on the Goerli test network, enabling users to test the code in advance.

CoinEx Futures Ranking

To celebrate the upcoming Shanghai upgrade, CoinEx, a global crypto exchange, will launch a Futures Tradeboard ranking titled “CoinEx Futures Ranking: Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade Special Event，15,000 USDT For Grabs”.

Details of the ranking are as follows:

l Duration

04:00 April 7 - 04:00 April 17, 2023 (UTC)

l Eligible Users

All CoinEx users (Market Makers excluded)

l Selected Markets

ETHUSDT, LDOUSDT, ANKRUSDT, ARBUSDT, ETCUSDT, OPUSDT, YFIUSDT, MATICUSDT, and SXPUSDT.

l Rules

During the promotion, participants who recorded a trading volume of over 10,000 USDT in selected Futures markets can join the rank and share the 15,000 USDT reward.

l How to Participate

(1) Web: Go to the CoinEx website at https://www.coinex.com, click on [Promotion] - [CoinEx Tradeboard] on the navigation bar, enter the promotion page, and click [Apply Now].

(2) App: Open the CoinEx APP, tap [Tradeboard] on the [Home] page, enter the promotion page, and tap [Apply Now].

Click on the link below to find out more about the promotion:

https://support.coinex.com/hc/articles/9653663775257

Shanghai Upgrade Approaching: Ethereum Protocols You Should Know