• The Ethereum Shapella upgrade is scheduled for Feb. 28, and will activate on the Sepolia network at epoch 56832.
• Key changes to the execution layer include warm coinbase and Beacon Chain push withdrawals.
• Major changes to the consensus layer include full and partial withdrawals for validators and independent state objects.

Ethereum Shapella Upgrade Scheduled for Feb 28

The Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko has announced that the Shapella upgrade is scheduled for Feb. 28, which will activate on the Sepolia network at epoch 56832. This upgrade is only for the Sepolia network, with a subsequent upgrade for the Goerli network to be introduced in March.

Execution Layer Changes

Some key Ethereum improvement proposal (EIP) changes on the execution layer include warm coinbase and Beacon Chain push withdrawals. Warm coinbase could reduce network fees as it requires a lower gas fee to access it while Push withdrawals allow validator withdrawals from the Beacon Chain to the Ethereum Virtual Machine via a new “system-level” operation type.

Consensus Layer Changes

Major changes to the consensus layer include full and partial withdrawals for validators and independent state objects. This means that validators can make full or partial withdrawals from their stakes depending on their needs without having to withdraw all of their staked tokens at once if they don’t want to do so.

Shanghai & Capella Names

The fork’s name on the execution layer client side is Shanghai, while Capella is its name on the consensus layer client side.

Conclusion

The upcoming Shapella hard fork promises some exciting new features such as warm coinbase, beacon chain push withdrawals, full/partial withdrawal options for validators etc., that are sure going revolutionize how we use Ethereum network in future!