Ethereum developers will launch "Zhejiang," a new test network enabling experimenting with Ethereum Improvement Proposal-4895, commonly known as staked ether withdrawals, which is a part of the protocol's upcoming Shanghai hard fork, protocol’s next upgrade, crypto media outlet CoinTelegraph reported on February 1.

Testnet describes a blockchain that isn't fully operational and deployed to a production environment, meaning that it enables users and developers to test updates and programs in a low-risk setting before going live.

Staked ETH withdrawals will be tested on this new testnet, which launches at 10:00 ET (15:00 UTC) (EIP-4895). Before the testnet undergoes an update on February 7, users won't be able to instantly take part in the simulated withdrawals. For the time being, users can deposit ETH to testnet validators and then withdraw it the next week.

Following the deprecation of the Shandong testnet by the Ethereum developers, the Zhejiang testnet has now been launched. Because Shandong had a few EIPs pertaining to EVM Object Format (EOF), which was dropped from the Shanghai update, they decided to shut it down. The update for EOF will instead be a part of a different Ethereum hard fork anticipated in the third quarter, developers decided earlier in January.

Source: COINDESK