Chainlink Will Not Support Forked Ethereum Chains Following the Merge
- Chainlink advised developers and dApp owners to pause their smart contract operations if they are unsure about their migration strategy till the network is stable.
The top players in the crypto space are announcing their plans regarding Ethereum’s planned switch to become a PoS (proof-of-stake) network, so is Chainlink. A new blog post by Chainlink states that the network won’t support Ethereum pow forks after the Merge.
Notably, Chainlink is one of the top providers of smart contract infrastructure on the Ethereum network. The network’s products and tools are widely used in the NFT, gaming, and DeFi sectors.
According to the post, Chainlink’s protocol and services will still be available pre and post-Merge. The blog post advised dApp teams and developers on the Ethereum network to suspend smart contract operations if they are unsure about what they would do after the Merge.
The move will enable them to prevent unfortunate situations and protect their end users. “Protocol and application-level issues might cause dApps on forked versions of Ethereum such as pow forks to misbehave. Thus, leading to greater risks for users.” Chainlink also reiterated that it is trying to adequately prepare for any challenges that may arise after the Ethereum switch is complete.
Clarity for DApps and Developers on the Chainlink Network
Worth noting, if everything goes according to Ethereum developers’ plans, they will Merge the network’s mainnet with the beacon chain by September 2022.
The first phase of the Merge will be switching the network’s smart contracts and transaction history to the pos network. As of March 31, 2022, there are a total of 1.45 million smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.
Many speculate that the network will split into ETHPoW (Ethereum proof-of-work) and ETHPoS (Ethereum proof-of-stake) after the Merge. However, blockchain security experts predict that scammers might want to have their way during the period leading to the completion of Ethereum’s planned switch.
They explained that scammers might start running fake airdrops since it is likely that Ethereum will provide its holders with token airdrops. The experts added that this might explain why Chainlink chose not to support forked versions of the Ethereum blockchain. Nevertheless, Chainlink said it would keep monitoring developments about the Ethereum Merge. Thus, it can ensure that its users enjoy optimum reliability from its services.
A report by a top American financial institution, the Bank of America, revealed that Chainlink would be crucial to broader blockchain adoption in different industries such as insurance, gaming, and gambling. Two months ago, Chainlink launched a live price feed on Solana. The feed currently covers USDC, BTC, and ETH, with other coins and tokens added later.
Barely a month after the feed launch, crypto exchange, ByBit, announced that it had integrated Chainlink’s live price feed for 35 coins. The exchange explained that the move would improve the accuracy of crypto prices on its spot trading platform.
Meanwhile, some crypto market players propose a fork of the current Ethereum proof-of-work mechanism after the Merge. However, Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum founder) isn’t worried about their actions. He commented that the move is from a group of outsiders who own exchanges and want to make a quick buck.
As the Merge comes closer, it has revealed major divisions in the crypto industry. Remember some players including Poloniex have announced support for ETH forks.
Rebecca is a Senior Staff Writer at BitcoinWisdom, working hard to bring you the latest breaking news in the cryptocurrency market. In the words of Elon Musk “Buy stock in several companies that make products & services that *you* believe in. Only sell if you think their products & services are trending worse. Don’t panic when the market does. This will serve you well in the long-term.”
