After a significant delay, validators on the Ethereum network can now proceed to withdraw their staked Ether and the accompanying rewards.
The implementation of the Shapella hard fork on the Ethereum mainnet has been confirmed. This means that validators on the network are now able to proceed with the withdrawal of their staked Ether, which is currently valued at $1,914, from the Beacon Chain. The upgrade, which has been highly anticipated, took effect at epoch number 194,048 on April 12 at 10:27 pm UTC.
As per data from Ethereum block explorer beaconchai.in, within the first hour of the hard fork, a total of 60,715 Ether were unlocked via 22,093 withdrawals.
The Ethereum Investment Proposal EIP-4895 facilitated the transfer of staked Ether from the Beacon Chain to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), also known as the execution layer. This transfer enabled the possibility of withdrawals. This upgrade is considered the most substantial since the Merge on September 15th, and it brings Ethereum one step closer to achieving a fully operational proof-of-stake system.