14 September, AtoZ Markets – If you follow cryptocurrency market news, you should probably know that Ethereum is eyeing a next system-wide upgrade named Constantinople.
Ethereum Constantinople Hard Fork Date and Info
Constantinople has been finalized earlier this August, on 31st, and it includes five different Ethereum improvement proposals (EIPs). The proposals are aiming to permanently alter the Blockchain with a series of new backward-incompatible upgrades.
The five EIPs include:
- EIP 145: A technical upgrade created by Ethereum developers, Alex Beregszaszi and Pawel Bylica. This EIP aims to enable a more efficient information processing method, known as bitwise shifting.
- EIP 1052: Written by core developer Nick Johnson and Bylica, this EIP provides a means of enhancing large-scale code execution on Ethereum.
- EIP 1283: This EIP is based on EIP 1087, which was authored by Johnson. This proposal aims to benefit smart contract developers. It plans to do so by introducing a more reasonable pricing method for changes made to data storage.
- EIP 1014: The founder of Ethereum himself, Vitalik Buterin, is responsible for the creation of this proposal. The purpose of this upgrade is to improve the facilitation of a specific kind of scaling solution based on state channels and "off-chain" transactions.
- EIP 1234: Authored by Afri Schoedon, who is the release manager for major Ethereum client Parity, this EIP is eyeing to decrease the block mining reward issuance from 3 ETH down to 2 ETH. It also plans to delay the difficulty bomb for a period of 12 months.
What does it mean for end users?
The new upgrades for the Ethereum network imply that nodes now must either adopt the new EIPs together with the entire system or continue to run as a separate Blockchain entity.
However, most of the Constantinople upgrades will not be noticeable for the average user. In fact, the upcoming Ethereum hard fork will not bring any “big changes” for the end users, according to one of the independent developers, Lane Rettig.
As Ethereum trader Eric Conner has commented on the upcoming fork:
"Complex coding and testing takes time. And ethereum is live so it's essential to be sure no changes are breaking."
In general, the changes in the Ethereum system comprise the following: reasonable pricing structures for alterations made to smart contract data storage code; optimizations to advance processing times for developers; and a code change-making scaling solutions through state channels easier to take place on Ethereum. Some changes to Ethereum's economic policy are also planned.
Ethereum is currently trading at $207 after it surged and broke the $200 resistance against the US Dollar. The question now remains if the bearish sentiment continues for the pair in the coming days. For more insight you can refer to our Ethereum Price Weekly Analysis, or watch today's video analysis of 7marketz group:
What is next?
The EIPs that have been described above all have a certain level of impact on the Ethereum system. These proposals are expected to shape the progress of Ethereum in the future, as they are related to a number of wider goals that are planned way ahead.
As of the moment, each of the proposals is being tested, and in the coming weeks, there will be a peer review and implementation of them. According to the core developer of Ethereum, Nick Johnson, technically "anyone can contribute tests" to a global test suite. This can be tested against all client implementations. Yet, it is understood that Ethereum clients do not need to wait for these tests to take place in order to implement the code of their own.
Considering the preparations and the piloting involved in the Ethereum Constantinople hard fork process, the official release of the Ethereum next hard fork might be a bit delayed. While the original release date is set for October 8th, many expect the company to present the final solution to the public later in October or even in November.
Think we missed something? Let us know in the comments section below.