Ethereum core developer on the aftermath of Shapella upgrade

-Ethereum developer Tim Beiko shared his take on the aftermath of the Shapella Upgrade that went live last week.

-The developer revealed that after Shapella, Ethereum’s team is now focused on Ethereum Improvement Protocol (EIP) 4844.

Tim Beiko, head of the Ethereum protocol developer calls, recently appeared in an episode of Unchained Podcast hosted by popular crypto influencer Laura Shin.

During the interview, the Ethereum core developer discussed several aspects of the Shanghai Capella upgrade aka Shapella Fork which went live last week. 

The security concerns with validators unstaking their Ether

The unstaking of billions worth of Ether was arguably the largest concern among Ethereum stakeholders in the run-up to the Shapella Fork.

In addition to the selling pressure that experts had anticipated for ETH, community members had voiced concerns about the technical impact and the security-related issues that may arise from the network’s transition to Proof-of-stake.

Speaking on these issues, Tim Beiko listed the methods that were used to limit security concerns. 

These included activating specific withdrawal addresses for validators to receive their unstaked ether, running different kinds of simulations to ensure smooth withdrawals while maintaining the security of the network, and restricting the number of credential changes that can be processed per block, among several other measures. 

When asked about his take on nearly $200 million worth of staked ether being withdrawn within 24 hours of the upgrade going live, Beiko revealed that the people working on the protocol had seen it coming.

The core developer believes that the enabling of withdrawals de-risked the staking process on Ethereum. He added that by taking out the commitment factor, the network will encourage more validators to join the ecosystem. 

Speaking on the roadmap for Ethereum and the broader crypto industry, Beiko stated that validators may move from centralized exchanges to liquid staking projects (DeFi staking services) due to the better user experience.

As for the next big thing for the network, the developer revealed that he and other core developers were focused on EIP4844. The improvement protocol has been in the works for the past year with several testnets running at the moment.