Share this article
CoinDesk Validator ‘Zelda’ Successfully Exits Ethereum as Withdrawal Queue Shrinks to 9 Days
It took about 12 days for Zelda to fully exit the Ethereum blockchain. For any new staking withdrawal requests, the wait to get out has shrunk to nine days from 17 days.
Updated May 3, 2023, 5:50 p.m. Published May 3, 2023, 2:41 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
As part of CoinDesk’s former Valid Points Newsletter, CoinDesk set up its own Ethereum validator, “Zelda,” in 2020 to have a front-row seat into the blockchain’s shift from a proof-of-work (PoW) to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. The goal was to learn about the historic engineering feat and to report from the front lines.
But with Ethereum’s full transition to PoS complete and with the Shapella upgrade enabling staked ether (ETH) withdrawals, Zelda’s time has come to an end.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
According to blockchain explorer beaconcha.in, Zelda exited the Beacon Chain on April 24 at 12:16 p.m. ET, and our staked ETH became withdrawable on April 25 at 3:34 p.m. ET. The timeline of Zelda’s exit is similar to what had been reported at the time: The day after Shapella went live, the exit queue for validators looking to leave the chain was at about two weeks.
CoinDesk Director of Engineering C. Spencer Beggs put in the request to remove our validator from the chain on April 13, the morning after Shapella had been triggered. Thus, from the time our request went in, to the time that CoinDesk’s staked ETH became withdrawable, it took about 12 days.
The reason it takes so long for validators to exit the chain is because that’s part of the project’s design. Staking is an important part of maintaining the security of the Ethereum blockchain, and if too many validators left the chain at once the security of ensuring that transactions and blocks are added to the network could not be guaranteed. So the number of validators who can exit at any given time is subject to a hard limit. When withdrawal requests pile up, the exit queue backs up.
Currently, the withdrawal queue sits at about nine days, indicating that the requests for validators to be removed from the blockchain has calmed down. At its peak, the withdrawal queue was at 17 days.
Zelda managed to earn 3.682 ETH worth about $6,860 in staking rewards, which CoinDesk will donate to charity.
Read more: CoinDesk Winds Down Ethereum Validator ‘Zelda,’ and We Now Wait to Get Money Back
More For You
Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale.
What to know:
Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token.
The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.
More For You
Deus X CEO Tim Grant: We aren't replacing finance; we're integrating it
The Deus X CEO discussed his journey into digital assets, the company's infrastructure-led growth strategy, and why his Consensus Hong Kong panel promises "real talk only."
What to know:
- Tim Grant entered crypto in 2015 after early exposure to Ripple and Coinbase, drawn by blockchain’s ability to improve traditional finance rather than replace it.
- Deus X combines investing and operating to build regulated digital finance infrastructure across payments, prime services, and institutional DeFi.
- Grant will be speaking at Consensus Hong Kong in February.
Top Stories
