Upcoming Ethereum Upgrades and What They Mean for the Network

Upcoming Ethereum Upgrades and What They Mean for the Network. 

In recent months, Ethereum has been a hot topic of conversation of cryptocurrency, particularly with the upcoming Ethereum 2.0 upgrade. 

 

With the narrative shifting towards derivatives and DeFi protocols, the industry has set its sights on Rocket Pool and Lido, which have recently overtaken Maker DAO as the largest DeFi protocol. 

However, the real excitement lies in the upcoming Ethereum upgrades that are expected to take place after the merge.

The Shanghai Upgrade

The Shanghai upgrade is the next major upgrade to the Ethereum network after the merge in September of last year. With this upgrade, all of the staked Ether that users have accrued will finally be available for withdrawal. 

Since the merge, users have been staking Ether in exchange for rewards to help secure the chain, but it is not until the Shanghai upgrade that these rewards can be claimed. 

This has led many in the crypto community to speculate that liquid staking, like that found in Rocket Pool, will take off after the upgrade, hence the addition of Lido in recent months.

EOF Delay and Future Upgrades

In addition to the Shanghai upgrade, many other upgrades are expected to be packaged with it, including the delayed EOF upgrade. This will be the first-ever upgrade to the Ethereum Virtual Machine since its inception in 2015 and consists of five IPs. 

The improvements will entirely change how Ethereum works, making EVM execution more efficient and more easily upgradable. While the developers have recently announced that the EOF upgrade will be delayed for 3-4 months, it is still expected to arrive in the summer.

Furthermore, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has stated that even after the merge, Ethereum will only be 55% completed. This means that there are still many upgrades to come, including the verge, purge, and scourge upgrades.

Surge, Verge, Purge, and Scourge

The surge upgrade is expected to bring sharding to Ethereum sometime later this year. This will help to improve network scalability, gas costs, and transaction speeds. 

The verge upgrade is aimed at optimizing storage on Ethereum and reducing unnecessary data storage. This will also help make Ethereum more scalable.

The purge upgrade is focused on reducing the amount of storage required for smart contracts, which will help free up space on the network. 

The scourge upgrade is aimed at improving the service ship resistance and avoiding centralization and other risks that could arise from maximal extractable value (MEV). This refers to the value that validators can obtain from changing the sequence of transactions inside the box, including front running.

Implications for Ethereum

All of these upgrades and additions are set to make Ethereum a more efficient, scalable, and secure platform for users. The Ethereum network has faced congestion issues in the past, and these upgrades are aimed at addressing these problems while also improving the user experience. 

With these upgrades, Ethereum is set to become a more attractive platform for developers and investors, which could lead to a surge in adoption and use cases.

In conclusion, the upcoming Ethereum upgrades represent an exciting time for the Ethereum network and the cryptocurrency industry as a whole. 

With the Shanghai upgrade, users will finally be able to withdraw their staked Ether, and with future upgrades such as EOF, surge, verge, purge, and scourge, Ethereum is set to become a more efficient, scalable, and secure platform. 

As the network continues to grow and evolve, we can expect to see new and innovative use cases emerge, driving the adoption of Ethereum and cryptocurrency.