By executing the latest Shapella upgrade, developers have once again demonstrated that it is possible to replace a critical component worth $252 billion in the process. The last time they accomplished such a feat was during the “merger” last September.

Unfortunately, with 18.5% of Ethereum network validators not having the correct validator credentials, this doesn’t have to be the case.

According to the data, 106,219 validators holding 284,286 Ethereum on the network have yet to hear a good word from Shapella.

This also means that at today's prices, $596 million will not be able to withdraw any funds from the system.

These credentials are automatically renewed via network scans, but it adds additional wait time for anyone relying on these nodes.

An analyst at investment firm Galaxy estimated that “it may take about 100 hours for the network to run and update withdrawal credentials for the entire Ethereum validator set.”

Four days isn’t a long time to wait, but it’s just another hurdle for any serious bearish impulse following the upgrade.

The same network scan also includes a list of which validators want to perform a “partial exit” or a “full exit”.

A partial exit is when a validator signals that they wish to withdraw the rewards they received for staking. The network will define these rewards as any reward above the initial 32 ETH deposit. This exit differs from a full exit in that the validator only takes the rewards and then continues validating while away.

Full exiters are more serious about their departure. They take their rewards and initial stake, then shut down as a validator.

Nansen said there are currently more than 31,166 validators signaling a “full exit” with 1,118,291 ETH left.

It seems like a lot, but a key detail here revolves around the recent action against Kraken to shut down its staking services in the U.S. When examining entities that have signaled they will be leaving the network, the San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange accounts for a whopping 50% of that demand.

Once withdrawn and returned to users, those users have several options.

Naturally, some will sell; after perhaps as long as two years of waiting, even the most enthusiastic ETH chiefs may reward themselves for their steadfastness.

Others, though, may be exiting staking so that they can eventually update their validator setup, which is likely the case given the number of independent stakers and amateurs participating.

Then there’s the question of what Lido Finance and Rocketpool and the myriad other liquidity staking platforms will do.

Whatever happens, both platforms say upgrading stakers’ credentials won’t be a problem.

Lido announced Thursday that its first credential renewal was a success, while RocketPool’s Atlas upgrade makes credential rotation a piece of cake for users.