Shapella: Ethereum’s Upcoming Upgrade Merges Shanghai & Capella

• Ethereum developers are referring to the upcoming hard fork as “Shapella” due to the simultaneous upgrades happening on both the execution and consensus layers.
• The Shanghai upgrade is on the execution side while Capella is on the consensus side, hence the merging of the two names.
• Shapella combines Ethereum’s original proof-of-work blockchain (execution layer) with its proof-of-stake chain (consensus layer).

Ethereum’s Upcoming Upgrade Technically Referred to as ‘Shapella’

What is ‘Shapella’?

Ethereum developers have started to refer to the blockchain’s upcoming hard fork – in this case a key upgrade – as “Shapella”. This combines Ethereum’s original proof-of-work blockchain (the ‘execution layer’) with its proof-of-stake chain (the ‘consensus layer’). The Shanghai upgrade is only applicable for the execution side of Ethereum, while Capella is for its consensus side. Thus, Shapella becomes a portmanteau of these two names.

Why is it Called ‘Shapella’?

The reason why developers chose this name lies in how complicated it would be if they had chosen to transition only from proof of work to proof of stake. Merging both chains together made more sense and seemed easier for developers; thus they combined both names into one and called it Shapella.

How Did Shapella Come About?

To understand what led up to Shapella, one needs to look at features that existed prior to when it went through its last upgrade: Merge. In this old version, Ethereum had a proof-of-work chain that was also known as an execution layer. When Ethereum introduced its new proof-of-stake chain (known as a consensus layer), developers decided that merging these two chains together was simpler than transitioning from one chain alone – giving rise to what we now know as Merge.

When Will We See ‘Shapella’?

The Shapella hard fork is expected by next month, although this could change depending on any new developments or improvements made before then. It will be interesting to see how this hard fork affects Ethereum and whether or not it will improve or detract from user experience.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Shapella refers to an upcoming hard fork between both sides of Ethereum: Shanghai being used for execution and Capellla used for consensus. This cleverly named portmanteau combines aspects of both layers into one unified upgrade which could potentially benefit users in terms of their experience when dealing with transactions on Ethereum’s network in future months.