Upgrade Istanbul Part 1 will be the eighth hard fork of the Ethereum network

Ethereum developers have finalized the list of six different code changes that will be activated for the next Ethereum system upgrade, Istanbul.

As agreed in previous sessions, the Istanbul upgrade will be implemented in two parts. The first, which will present all six code changes, or proposals for Ethereum Improvement (EIP), is expected to be implemented on the network in October.

The second, which is scheduled for network activation sometime in the first quarter of next year, will have PPIs that require additional testing and deliberation from core developers. These include a proposed modification of the mining algorithm called “ProgPoW”.

Istanbul Part 1

It will be the eighth hard fork of the Ethereum network, which is currently worth nearly $ 21 billion. It is estimated that the upgrade will stimulate chain interoperability with zcash private cryptocurrency. It will help secure the wider network against replay attacks, among other efficiency improvements.

Developers behind major Ethereum clients such as Geth and Parity have one week to integrate the new list of six EIPs into their software. This is necessary to prepare the full code implementation on an Ethereum live Ropsten test network.

Activation on the Istanbul testnet Part 1 will be the last important step before being implemented on the mainnet. As with any hard fork, Ethereum miners must upgrade to the latest software at the same time or risk splitting the network.

Speaking about the importance of a testnet version for updates, Hudson Jameson, Ethereum Foundation’s community manager, said:

“Network security and stability are major concerns when it comes to hard fork network deployment, so deployment on the testnet is an essential step to ensure that the Istanbul mainnet upgrade goes smoothly.”