Things to know:
- Staking with Lido through Ledger Live: stETH holders can unstake their stETH and in return receive ETH at a 1:1 ratio. Keep in mind that you can't unstake your rewards* before May.
- Staking with Kiln through Ledger Live: once the validator goes through the exit and withdrawal queues, you can go to the Rewards tab and claim your ETH. Keep in mind that you can't unstake your rewards* before May.
Back in December 2020, Ethereum starts the switch to proof-of-stake with the launch of the Beacon chain, which allowed users to become network validators by staking their ETH – however, these staked assets & rewards were locked. With the Shanghai upgrade (EIP-4895) on the horizon, things are about to change.
After the upgrade, validators will be able to:
- Unlock and withdraw their staking rewards.
- Unstake ETH and gain access to their entire balance.
Shanghai upgrade will also include three other improvement proposals that tackle high gas fees, slow transaction processing time, and the overall performance of the network.
Withdrawing rewards
There are two ways to withdraw unlocked ETH: through partial or full withdrawals.
The withdrawal process is divided into two stages: exit and withdrawal queues.
Notes:
- Each validator account can only be tied to a single withdrawal address. Once the address is submitted to the Beacon Chain, it can’t be changed or reversed.
- Failing to provide withdrawal credentials doesn’t put the funds at risk—ETH will be locked in the account until the validator provides a withdrawal address.
Partial withdrawals
Partial withdrawals include any ETH above the 32 ETH staking minimum, typically the staking rewards.
Validators doing partial withdrawals can skip the exit queue and take a spot in the withdrawal queue immediately. They need to provide a withdrawal address one time—no gas is required. After that, the rewards will be automatically withdrawn.
Full withdrawals
Full withdrawals, which include the base (32 ETH or more) and accumulated rewards, require validators to go through both the exit and the withdrawal queues.
To enter the exit queue, validators need to sign and broadcast a voluntary exit message with their keys. The message is then submitted to a beacon node—no gas is required.
Once validators go through the exit queue, they must wait in the withdrawal queue. The length of the withdrawal period depends on whether the validator has been slashed. If the validator hasn’t been slashed, the withdrawal period is 256 epochs (around 27 hours). If the validator has been slashed, this period is 8,192 epochs (around 36 days).
When the validator's account gets flagged as withdrawable and the credentials are provided, no additional action is required from the validator. The account balance will be transferred in full during the next sweep.
What does the Shanghai upgrade mean for Ledger Live users?
ℹ️ Keep in mind that you can't unstake your rewards before May.
stETH holders can unstake their stETH and in return receive ETH at a 1:1 ratio. Withdrawals will be handled through a Request and Claim process:
- Request: A user locks stETH as a withdrawal request.
- Fulfillment: The protocol sources ETH to fulfill the withdrawal request, locks the ETH, burns the locked stETH, and marks the withdrawal request as claimable.
- Claim: The user claims their ETH.
ℹ️ It’s uncertain how long it will take to process withdrawals—expect a couple of hours in the best case and less than a week for most requests. In some cases, it may be significantly longer.
Learn more:
ℹ️ Keep in mind that you can't unstake your rewards before May.
You can withdraw your ETH by following these steps:
- Unlock and connect your Ledger device to the Ledger Live app.
- Navigate to the Discover section.
- Select Kiln.
- Go to the Rewards tab and select the validator(s).
- Click Unstake.
- Review and verify the transaction using your Ledger device.
Once the validator goes through the exit and withdrawal queues, you can go back to the Rewards tab, click the Withdraw button and claim your ETH.
How long does the withdrawal process take?
It can take up to several hours or days. The length of the exit and withdrawal queues depend on various factors such as the number of active validators and the number of validators who want to exit. Only a certain number of validators can exit the queue per epoch. Currently, it’s 7 validators per epoch, with an epoch occurring every 6.4 minutes.
You can monitor the queues on https://beaconcha.in/
*Rewards are not guaranteed. Ledger does not provide any financial advice or recommendation.