A testnet demonstrating Ethereum staking withdrawals will go live on Wednesday, according to developer statements on January 30th.
Ethereum Foundation members Parithosh Jayanthi and Barnabas Busa said that the Zhejiang testnet will go live on February 1 at 15:00 UTC. The Shanghai and Capella update will go live on the testnet six days later (at epoch 1350 on the blockchain).
Once the process is complete, validators can test withdraw withdrawals in a practice environment without real funds. Validators can convert between credentials, test partial and full withdrawals, and fully exit your validation node.
Ethereum currently supports most other staking-related features. Users can now stake 32 ETH ($55,200) to operate a validator node. That feature has been available since the developers launched the Ethereum beacon chain in December 2020. Users have also been able to earn staking rewards since the September 2022 Merge update.
Despite those capabilities, Ethereum does not allow validators to withdraw staked ETH. This limitation was introduced to ensure the robustness of the participation network.
The absence of betting withdrawals is one of the reasons why liquid betting services, such as those offered by Lido and Coinbase, have become prominent. While users of these platforms may be prevented from withdrawing their staked ETH, they also issue a corresponding “liquid” token that can be freely invested elsewhere. Some liquid tokens have seen a price movement due to the upcoming staking withdrawal update.
The Zhejiang testnet is the next step towards introducing proper staking withdrawals on Ethereum. Recent calls from developers suggest that the feature will be introduced to the mainnet in March. However, there is still no definitive date for the update.
