The Ethereum network will be undergoing a hard fork at block number 2463000, which will likely occur between 12:00 and 13:00 UTC on Tuesday, October 18, 2016.A countdown timer can be seen at https://fork.codetract.io/.Download the latest version of your Ethereum client: If you are using an Ethereum client that is not updated for the upcoming hard fork, your client will sync to the pre-fork blockchain once the fork occurs.You will be stuck on an incompatible chain following the old rules and you will be unable to send ether or operate on the post-fork Ethereum network.A hard fork is a change to the underlying Ethereum protocol, creating new rules to improve the system.All Ethereum clients need to upgrade; otherwise they will be stuck on an incompatible chain following the old rules.The decentralized nature of blockchain systems makes a hard fork upgrade more difficult.Hard forks in a blockchain require cooperation and communication with the community, as well as with the developers of the various Ethereum clients in order for the transition to go smoothly.

After consensus is reached on what changes should be included in a hard fork, changes to the protocol are written into the various Ethereum clients, such as geth, Parity, and ethereumJ.The protocol changes are activated at a specific block number.Any nodes that have not been upgraded to the new ruleset will be abandoned on the old chain where the previous rules continue to exist.Since September 18th (UTC), the Ethereum network has been under attack by a person or group resulting in large delays before transactions were processed.The network is currently filled with pending transactions which is causing users delays in processing their transactions.You can think of this as a denial of service (DoS) attack on the Ethereum blockchain.Every operation that an Ethereum contract performs on the network is given a price or gas fee.Using the ADD operation is less computationally expensive than performing a complex operation such as hashing a number using SHA256.The attacker performed a DoS attack by repeatedly calling certain operation codes (opcodes) in their smart contracts that are computationally difficult for clients to process, but very cheap to add to the network.

In order to prevent the attacker(s) from continuing to flood the network with low-priced contracts with high computational cost, we are raising the price of certain operations.bitcointalk new usersThe two hard forks each address different problems that have arisen from the attacks.bitcoin pool best payoutThe first hard fork is meant to address urgent network health issues concerning underpriced operation codes.ethereum next forkAs described in Ethereum Improvement Proposal 150, “EIP 150 Hard Fork,” the first hard fork is set to occur at block number 2463000 and will adjust the price of underpriced opcodes involved in the attack.bitcoin litecoin kurs

The second hard fork is expected to address a number of less urgent matters such as removing empty accounts which the attacker used to flood the Ethereum network, and which caused the size of the blockchain to inflate.bitcoin gbp preevThe second hard fork is still being discussed.litecoin brlAfter the second hard fork has been implemented, there will likely be a “clean-up period” during which time there may continue to be delays and difficulties processing transactions and syncing until the blockchain state has been fully debloated.ethereum hashrateThe respective changes to Ethereum protocol are documented in the GitHub repository for Ethereum Improvement Proposals The following two EIPs describe the current plans for the upcoming hard forks: A big thanks to the Ethereum community for their patience and understanding, and to all Ethereum developers across all clients and platforms who came together to provide input, thoughts, and contributions to address stopping the attacks and helping to improve the platform.ethereum iphone wallet

After the embarrassing failure of the DAO in 2016, the Ethereum Foundation moved quickly to address the problem by implementing a hard fork.ethereum atm cardOn July 20, 2016, the new code went into effect, reversing transactions that allowed a hacker to bleed $50 million  out of the $150 million venture fund in the wee hours of June 17.That DAO hard fork was not popular, but it was effective.bitcoin value bbcThe majority of miners moved over to the new chain, and the DAO funds went into a new smart contract, so the original investors could safely withdraw their funds.bitcoin mining pro pdfTo be clear, the Ethereum network itself was not hacked, just the DAO smart contract.bitcoin tap faucetThe hacker took advantage of a loophole in the contract code, written in the JavaScript-like language Solidity.But while the hard fork was an expedient solution to a pressing problem, how the decision-making was handled has long-term consequences for Ethereum.When the hacker drained the account, she/he put the funds in a child DAO.bitcoin bowl party deck

To extend the mandatory hold on those funds before the hacker could cash out, on June 24, the Ethereum Foundation incented miners to soft fork by releasing Geth version 1.4.8, code-named “DAO Wars.” However, the soft fork was abandoned because of the risk of a denial-of-service attack.The Foundation then began work on a hard fork to reverse the DOA transactions.coin hunter bitcoinUnlike a soft fork, a hard fork is a radical change in the protocol that all stakeholders in a blockchain need to agree upon to implement.Not everyone agreed with reversing the DAO funds.bitcoin loan without verificationMany vehemently opposed it.bitcoin qt spaceYet, as events unfolded, it became clear that Ethereum had no structure in place for settling these differences — no official forum for discussing the events, and no official voting mechanism.ethereal gem trail

Instead, decisions were being made on the fly.As a result, the broader Ethereum community was awakening to the reality that the Ethereum Foundation and its core developers were the ones holding the cards.litecoin data apiAnd there were clear conflicts of interest: the DAO was founded by former Ethereum developers, and several people in the Ethereum Foundation owned DAO tokens.litecoin gpu cpuTo get the vote needed to push through a hard fork, on July 15, the Ethereum Foundation turned to Carbonvote, an ad hoc polling tool created after the DAO hack.bitcoin bet planet moneyEther holders were given one vote per ether they held.assange bitcoin videoBut many questions arose regarding how the vote was handled: whether voters had enough time to vote (the voting window closed in less than 24 hours), who knew about the vote (outside of a blog post, it was only publicized on Twitter and Reddit) and whether enough people even participated to make it legitimate.ethereum hashrate chart

Only a small percentage of ether holders ever voted.Additionally, questions arose about whether Carbonvote was even an appropriate voting tool.mine litecoin with mac(Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin had previously referred to it as an informal signaling tool to see “which way the wind is blowing.”)The Ethereum Foundation and core developers ignored the interests of the stakeholders to push forward their own agenda for the fork.There’s no suggestion that the Ethereum Foundation acted out of anything other than good faith.bitcoin faucet gratisThe problem is the system depends on that good faith — and the broader Ethereum community now knows it.When a hard fork goes through, the hope is that everyone switches over to the new protocol and that the old, deprecated chain simply dies off.bitcoin future in hindi

But in the case of the post-DAO hard fork, that didn’t happen.bitcoin gratis faucetSeveral miners, developers and stakeholders remained on the old blockchain, now called Ethereum Classic.Now we have two Ethereums.bitcoin ticker for macThis has divided the once-unified Ethereum community and may dilute its overall influence.Additionally, forks create security problems.bitcoins to gbp graphThe fewer nodes a network has (when validators leave the system), the less secure it is from takeover attempts.faucet bitcoin gratisForks can also create opportunities for replay attacks, where a valid transaction on one fork can be repeated on the other, wreaking havoc in the system.For maximal security, and the sake of the community, hard forks need to happen in a way that reduces friction and convinces everyone to join the new fork.uusi bitcoin

The fact that this didn’t happen with Ethereum shows that the process lacks consensus.Hard Forks Are Not Effective for Evolutionary ChangeA few months after the DAO fork, both Ethereum and Ethereum Classic came under a sustained denial-of-service attack.primer bebe bitcoinBoth currencies followed up with subsequent forks to fix the security problems.bitcoin dust collectorAdditionally, Ethereum planned three upgrade forks: Homestead (which launched in March 2016), Metropolis and Serenity.Soft forks and hard forks are becoming an accepted way of life for blockchains, and that is dangerous.bitcoin hedge against inflationAny fork has the potential to become controversial, and those controversies can weaken a network and stall future growth, just as with the post-DAO fork in Ethereum and the seemingly endless Bitcoin block size debate.bitcoin ios github

The process of evolving the Ethereum protocol needs to happen in an agreed-upon manner, so stakeholders (and core developers) don’t get hit by surprises.bitcoin tencentAll parties have a right to know beforehand how issues will be resolved.Future blockchains need built-in governance systems.ethereum future timelineWhenever possible, decisions should happen on chain, not on Reddit or Twitter or some off-site polling tool.ethereum mac osAnd, as part of that governance system, blockchains also need a testnet, so stakeholders can review protocol changes before implementing them.But whether upgrades happen on the blockchain or off, the decision-making process needs to be clear, accountable and decentralized.bitcoin tax tracker