Ethereum staking withdrawal testnet ‘Zhejiang’ set to launch Wednesday

Ethereum staking withdrawal testnet ‘Zhejiang’ set to launch Wednesday

Feb. 1, 2023 at 2:00 am

By Mike Dalton

The testnet is a precursor to real staking withdrawals, which are expected in March.

A testnet that will demonstrate Ethereum staking withdrawals is set to go live on Wednesday, according to statements from developers on Jan. 30.

Ethereum Foundation members Parithosh Jayanthi and Barnabas Busa said the Zhejiang testnet will go live on Feb. 1 at 15:00 UTC. The Shanghai and Capella upgrade will be triggered on the testnet six days later (at epoch 1350 on the blockchain).

Once the process is complete, validators can try out staking withdrawals in a practice environment without real funds. Validators can convert between credentials, test partial and full withdrawals, and fully exit their validator 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 developers launched Ethereum’s beacon chain in December 2020. Users have also been able to earn staking rewards since September 2022’s Merge upgrade.