Ethereum developers approve six EIPs for Istanbul hard fork

Ethereum developers have finally approved a list of six code changes that will be activated during the next Istanbul-wide update.

As agreed at previous meetings, the Istanbul update will be deployed in two parts. It is assumed that the first of them, in which all six code changes or suggestions for improving Ethereum (EIP) will be presented, will be activated in October this year.

The second part of the update, which is planned to be activated on the network in the first quarter of next year, will include EIP, requiring further testing and discussion with the main developers. It includes a proposed change to the mining algorithm called ProgPoW.

Explaining Istanbul’s update structure, developer Peter Szilágyi said:

“We divided Istanbul into two parts. We can refine one of them in a few weeks. The other contains two really large EIPs that would be nice to include in the update, but they require some changes that cannot be completed in two or three weeks. ”

The first part of Istanbul will be the eighth hard fork of the Ethereum blockchain and the third major update as part of the Metropolis version (1.3). The second part of Istanbul will be the last hard fork before moving to Ethereum 2.0.

The planned hard fork will increase the compatibility of the Ethereum blockchain with the Zcash network and help protect the network from transaction duplication attacks, including by increasing efficiency. Developers of Ethereum’s main clients, such as Geth and Parity, now have a week to integrate the recently approved list of six EIPs into their software and prepare to implement all the new code in the Ethereum test network.

While the initial activation date for Istanbul in the Ropsten Ethereum test network was set for August 14, Gilagi noted that the deadlines should be postponed two weeks ahead to give developers time to finalize the EIPs included in the first part of Istanbul.

Although this list was agreed by the main developers, Zhilyagi said that the date of activation of the hard fork in the Ropsten test network, which is now scheduled for September 4, may need to be reviewed again.

“During previous hard forks, after everyone had implemented the changes in their customers, we had months to test before we deployed the update to the test network. Now we just finished with the EIP list and immediately want to go to the test network? It’s a little bold, ”Gilagi said.

Other developers agreed with this opinion and decided that the final choice of the activation activation date in the test network will be discussed at a meeting next week. The activation of the first part of Istanbul in the test network will be the last important milestone before activation in the main network. As with any hard fork, Ethereum miners must upgrade to a new version in advance, or the network will fork.

Speaking about the importance of releasing a test network for required updates, Ethereum Foundation community manager Hudson Jameson said:

“Network security and stability are paramount when it comes to the hard fork of the main network, so a release on the test network is a vital step in ensuring smooth operation. Ethereum developers are busy deploying the update on the Ropsten test network and want to make sure everything is working properly. ”