Kraken has said that unstaking ETH would be “not possible” until the Shanghai upgrade in six months

Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange, responded directly to consumers’ questions about when they will be allowed to unstake their staked ETH tokens after the long-awaited Merge update of the Ethereum (ETH) ecosystem.

Kraken Pro software lets users stake and unstake their bitcoin holdings. On September 15, the crypto exchange advised its customers that until the upcoming Ethereum network update in Shanghai, ETH unstaking would not be allowed.

The Ethereum Foundation anticipated the Shanghai upgrade to happen “6-12 months after The Merge,” according to Kraken’s support staff. The tweet also included a link to the website for the exchange, which said the same thing.

According to Kraken’s help centre, this is a wider problem with the Ethereum network rather than an isolated incident.

Until the Shanghai update is implemented, staked ETH on the Ethereum network cannot be unstaked or transferred. Clients should only risk ETH they intend to keep for a significant period of time. Not Kraken’s doing; it’s an Ethereum network restriction.

The Kraken support team added that: You will need to unstake your ETH manually in order to trade it or withdraw it from the exchange once withdrawals are permitted after the Shanghai upgrade.

As this big update did not contain all of the anticipated functionality, including the ability to withdraw staked ETH, the Shanghai upgrade is scheduled for delivery after the Merge. According to the Ethereum Foundation’s explanation of the Merge:

The Merge update left out several expected functionality, such as the ability to withdraw staked ETH, “to simplify and optimise attention on a smooth transition to proof-of-stake.”

Staking withdrawals will be possible with the next Shanghai update, according to the website. Repeating, “withdrawals are scheduled for the next Shanghai update,” users’ staked ETH and staking payouts remain frozen until the upgrade is complete.

GlobalBlock analyst Marcus Sotiriou told Finbold that the potential for institutional capital inflow into the second-largest decentralized finance (DeFi) token means that the long-term benefits of the Merge upgrade will exceed the dangers and short-term worries.

Also Read: After The Merge, Ethereum might face SEC scrutiny