Blockchain Upgrades Coming Soon

According to a recent report from CoinDesk’s Valid Points newsletter, Ethereum’s upcoming Shanghai upgrade, also known as “Shapella,” is expected to enable the release of staked ETH withdrawals for validators who stake 32 ETH to approve and add blocks to the blockchain. The official date for the upgrade hasn’t been set, but developers are aiming for March, which could potentially be delayed to April. Meanwhile, Ethereum layer 2 scaling system, Optimism, will go through a major upgrade in March called Bedrock, which aims to decrease transaction fees, increase transaction speed, and enhance compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Polygon, another scaling project for Ethereum, will also launch its own Zero-Knowledge Rollup (ZK Rollup) in March. The ZK rollup race is now heating up with various projects racing to release their own solutions. This report was originally published in CoinDesk’s Valid Points newsletter.

Ethereum’s upcoming Shanghai upgrade, also known as “Shapella,” is expected to enable the release of staked ETH withdrawals for validators who stake 32 ETH to approve and add blocks to the blockchain. Meanwhile, Ethereum layer 2 scaling system, Optimism, will go through a major upgrade in March called Bedrock, which aims to decrease transaction fees, increase transaction speed, and enhance compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Additionally, Polygon, another scaling project for Ethereum, will also launch its own Zero-Knowledge Rollup (ZK Rollup) in March. With various projects racing to release their own ZK rollup solutions, the scaling race on Ethereum is heating up.

• Shanghai Upgrade Nears: The Shanghai upgrade, more accurately known as “Shapella,” will enable the release of staked ether (ETH) withdrawals. Since Ethereum transitioned to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, validators who stake 32 ETH approve and add blocks to the blockchain. Before validators joined the PoS blockchain, they agreed that their staked ETH and any accrued rewards would remain locked up until Shanghai. Ethereum developers haven’t inked in an official date, but they are aiming for March for the big upgrade.
• Optimism to Upgrade to Bedrock: Optimism, an Ethereum layer 2 scaling system, will go through a major upgrade in March that aims to decrease transaction fees, increase the speed of transactions and enhance smoother compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). The layer 2 protocol aims to lower the cost of Ethereum transactions while maintaining the security of the Ethereum blockchain. The upgrade, known as “Bedrock,” will be a major upgrade to the network. Some have said the upgrade will help Optimism compete with its main competitor, Arbitrum.
• Polygon Launches Its Own ZK Rollup: Polygon, another scaling project to Ethereum, is coming out with its own rollup system in March. Polygon has been working on its own Zero-Knowledge Rollup (ZK Rollup) for a while, and in February announced the launch date of its beta zkEVM for March 27. ZK rollups use complex cryptography that create “proofs” that show that a transaction is valid using only minimal information about that transaction. The zkEVM deploys the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) for its ZK rollup, allowing developers to move over their Ethereum smart contracts without any hiccups. Other projects, such as Matter Labs and Scroll, are also working on their own ZK rollup solutions, with the race to release full-fledged ZK rollups heating up.