• The Shapella upgrade has been implemented on Ethereum mainnet, allowing users to enter and exit the staking program.
• ETH has had a surprising reaction to the upgrade – 73,214 ETH have so far been withdrawn with only 0.269% of the total staked ETH decreasing.
• Huobi, PieDAO and Kraken are some of the largest entities that can withdraw their ETH – Justin Sun’s exchange can withdraw 39,776 ETH.

The Shapella Upgrade Activates

The Shapella (Shanghai and Capella) upgrade was successfully implemented on Ethereum’s mainnet on Wednesday at 11:27 PM UTC. This is a monumental occasion as it marks the full implementation of Ethereum’s proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, allowing users to enter and exit the staking program whenever they please.

ETH Reacts To Staking Withdrawals

Contrary to many people’s expectations of an instant price dump once the upgrade went live, ETH has had a different reaction – trading flat at around $1,913 according to CoinGecko data. Withdrawals were enabled at 11:27 PM UTC, with 27,181 withdrawals processed resulting in 73,214 ETH being distributed. 19,621 validators out of 567209 are still waiting to fully exit the staking program while 566 have already done so making up 0.1% of total validators.

Largest Entities Able To Withdraw

Huobi is currently able to withdraw 39,776 ETH while PieDAO can withdraw 27270 and Kraken 19616 according to Nansen data. Justin Sun’s exchange is also one of these top entities able to withdraw its stake from Ethereum’s network.

Potential Selling Pressure On ETH

As more withdrawals occur and more validators can exit from staking programs there may be potential selling pressure on Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency Ether (ETH). Therefore it will be important for people holding large amounts of this asset to pay close attention over the next few weeks or months as more activity takes place in this space.

Investors Should Pay Attention

The Shapella upgrade is one of Ethereum’s largest upgrades in history and investors should take note of this monumental event as well as stay informed about upcoming developments related to it such as withdrawal speeds or potential selling pressures on Ether (ETH). Furthermore those interested in investing in digital assets should keep an eye out for news such as Winklevoss twins investing in Gemini which could influence market sentiment even further.