Ethereum Pushes Difficulty Bomb by 100 Days
- Ethereum is planning to switch from its current proof-of-work (PoW) algorithm to the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus model.
- Delaying the difficulty bomb by 100 days makes it difficult for the network to meet its earlier schedule.
- Ethereum currently trades at $1,029.66 with a 24-hour trading volume of $16,455,435,798.
The biggest smart contract platform in the world, Ethereum, has just released a brand new significant update. The network has announced that the “Gray Glacier” upgrade has gone live. The upgrade took place on June 30 at block 15,050,000. It had the sole purpose of altering the parameters of Ethereum’s difficulty bomb, delaying it by 700,000 blocks, or around 100 days.
Node operators and miners are mandated to upgrade to the most recent client list. Those who fail to do so will be stuck on the outdated pre-fork chain, which won’t work with the newly upgraded network. Holders are not compelled to act until directed. Ethereum wrote in a post that it released before the upgrade,
If you are using an Ethereum client that is not updated to the latest version (listed above), your client will sync to the pre-fork blockchain once the upgrade 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-upgrade Ethereum network.
What to Know About the Recent Ethereum Upgrade
The network upgrade is a modification to the Ethereum protocol that gives the system new guidelines. Network upgrades are more challenging due to blockchain systems’ decentralized nature. For network upgrades on a blockchain to be successful, the community and the creators of the many Ethereum clients must work together and communicate for the update to be successful.
According to a core developer at Ethereum Tim Beiko, the difficulty bomb will not be extended again. He went on to say that the Bomb will keep fraudsters away from the network since it requires some technical proficiency.
The difficulty bomb has been embedded into Ethereum since it debuted. It is simply a code that makes it more difficult to mine ETH, Ethereum’s native token, and discourages miners from moving on with their operations. The recent upgrade occurred as the Ethereum network moves from a proof-of-work (PoW) algorithm to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus model.
Detonating the difficulty bomb would indicate that the real switch, also known as The Merge, is approaching soon. However, the Merge might not be coming as early as August as Vitalik Buterin had previously planned. Pushing the difficulty bomb by 100 days makes it difficult to achieve that goal.
Lawrence has covered some exciting stories in his career as a journalist, he finds blockchain-related stories very intriguing. He believes Web3 will change the world and wants everyone to be a part of it.
