(Kitco News) - Tomorrow’s Shanghai and Capella upgrades to the Ethereum network, known collectively as ‘Shapella’, could have a major impact on the price of ETH in the near term, and will have major implications for the growth of the Ethereum ecosystem going forward.

Scheduled for around 10:30 pm UTC on April 12, Shapella’s single most significant change is that it enables validators who have staked the required minimum of 32 ETH to unstake them immediately, and anytime they choose thereafter.

According to Sili Zhao, a blockchain engineer and Director of Global Business at InfStones, this upgrade will be a watershed event for Ethereum and for the crypto industry as a whole.

“Right now, a lot of investors and stakers are on the fence because they think, ‘if I commit then I don't know when I can get my ETH back if I don't want to stake anymore.’ But after Shanghai that concern is eliminated, so they will feel more comfortable staking their Ethereum.”

“After the Shanghai upgrade, every one of the stakers will be able to access their validator and then withdraw the 32 ETH they have committed. So that will give the market more certainty about when they can get their assets back.”

Read the full article here.