A good 12% of all Ethereum (ETH) is deposited for staking. Now, there are fears that the Ethereum Foundation has abandoned the schedules to be able to withdraw staked ETH again from 2023.
It’s been a good two months since “The Merge” at Ethereum and since then ETH’s mainnet has been based on proof-of-stake as a protocol. This means that Ethereum can be deposited for staking and thus earn interest. This possibility was introduced at the end of 2020 with the launch of the Beacon Chain at Ethereum, the first testnet for Ethereum 2.0. According to blockchain data, around 12.5% of all ETH is now stored in staking pools. Investors were always told that they could only withdraw their staked ETH after “The Merge”. Then it was said that another update called Shanghai should be expected for this option, which should go live in 2023.
But in the meantime, Ethereum Foundation officials are keeping a low profile and have apparently secretly cashed in the schedules. Like Twitter users crypto crystal balls documented, all more accurate times for Update Shanghai have disappeared from the Ethereum Foundation website and a target date for the “Unstake” option can no longer be found either. According to Crypto Crystal Baller, 2024 was still considered realistic by ETH developers at the end of the summer, but no one wants to be tied to that forecast anymore.
For investors betting on Etherum, the development is uncomfortable to say the least. Their strategy was based on the assumption of earning interest (up to 10%) with staking ETH over a reasonable period of time and accepting limited liquidity in return. Providers such as Lido and Coinbase have found a solution with the so-called “Wrapped ETH” to already use staked Ethereum in the DeFi sector, for example. But it’s still a band-aid – elegant – solution, and the FTX crash showed how important it is to have full access to your cryptocurrency balances at all times.
Conclusion: Ethereum Staking – will the rules change?
Ambitious deadlines in the crypto industry often lead to delays, and Ethereum has been no exception in the past. But the new confusion around ETH staking directly affects investment strategies, for which the “unstaking” option was planned for 2023 at the latest. The ball is now in the hands of the Ethereum Foundation, which should explain what has really changed in terms of ETH staking and how long investors still have to wait until they exit. Because the topic is critical and can damage trust in ETH if the Etherum Foundation remains silent.
