Ethereum Validator Count Surpasses 500,000 Ahead of Upcoming Shanghai Hard Fork

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According to statistics, the number of Ethereum network validators on the Beacon chain exceeded 500,000 as of Jan. 12, 2023. The validator milestone comes as Ethereum core developers prepare for the Shanghai hard fork. Five days ago, Ethereum core developers launched a developer network environment called “devnet 2” for the upcoming upgrade.

Ethereum Developers Launch ‘Devnet 2’ Testing Network for Upcoming Shanghai Upgrade; Network Exceeds 500,000 Validators

On Jan. 11, 2023, Ethereum developers launched a new testing network for the Shanghai upgrade, a hard fork that’s anticipated to happen in March 2023. The developer’s new testing environment is called “devnet 2” as it follows “devnet 1” released in Nov. 2022. The new testnet was discussed briefly during the All Core Devs (ACD) meeting held on Jan. 5, 2023.

At that time, Ethereum core developers stressed that the focus remains vigilant on staked withdrawals. It has been 123 days since The Merge, the point in time when the Ethereum blockchain transitioned from a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain to a proof-of-stake (PoS) network. The transition meant that instead of miners and ASIC devices verifying transactions, Ethereum validators now handle the verification of onchain transactions on the main layer.

Following the release of devnet 2, the next day the network crossed a milestone with more than 500,000 validators, according to statistics from beaconscan.com. In order to become a validator, an individual or organization must physically manage a validator client on the Beacon Chain and hold 32 ether. According to Jan. 16, 2023, ethereum (ETH) exchange rates, the cost to be a validator with the 32 Ether price alone would be just over $50,000.

Beaconscan.com indicates that as of Jan. 15, 2023, roughly 501,215 validators were recorded on the Ethereum blockchain. On the same day last year, there were approximately 282,249 ETH validators, which means the count has increased by 77.58% over the last 12 months. On the day of The Merge, there were 428,438 validators, and today the number is 16.99% higher.

What do you think about the 500,000 validator milestone on the Ethereum blockchain? Share your thoughts about this subject in the comments section below.