Bloomberg News reports that as early as September, it is expected that Ethereum will undergo a major upgrade in software dubbed Merge. Following the upgrade, the network will shift from using scores referred to as miners to energy-efficient validators for ordering transactions.
However, the change is not being adopted by everyone. Instead, many sects or factions prefer forks that can copy the present software and, with just a few tweaks, will be able to continue running the miners, the older version of Ethereum.
Hongcai “Chandler” Guo, a prominent Ethereum miner in China, spearheaded a concept called the EthereumPOW. However, he has now partially retired and lives in San Francisco. Following the implementation of Merge, several Chinese companies that are engaged in producing Ethereum mining equipment will no longer be in use. These company owners have requested “Chandler” to initiate the forking effort.
In the world of cryptocurrency, forks have played a crucial role and have been in practice ever since Bitcoin was first introduced in the industry decades ago. Bitcoin SV, Bitcoin Cash, and Bitcoin Gold have been successful, and Ethereum Classic already exists, which forked out from Ethereum in 2016.
Ahead of Merge Ether Attempts Rebound
Bloomberg News reports that analysts see many obstacles. It is not easy for the newly forked chains to offer support to the app developers, users, and promoters. In several cases, there are no explorer tools that help in tracking the usage.
However, at the BUIDL Asia 2022 Seoul Conference this week, the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, dismissed the forking initiatives stating that these do not add much value and hardly make any difference in comparison to the blockchains that exist.
Despite the same, Guo has revealed that he has onboard a team of around 60 developers working on the fork. It would need tweaks to the already existing software so that the “ominous-sounding difficulty bomb,” which is a feature of the software developed in a way to force the transition from the present proof-of-work or (PoW) to proof-of-stake or (PoS).
Bloomberg News reports that it is quite likely that miners will end up offering support to fork so that the show can go on. After Merge, the miners have options like supporting smaller chains after migrating to Ethereum Classic, selling their machines, or repurposing gear. As stated by Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd, it was planning to switch to Ethereum Classic mining on Friday.
Many companies will, however, would prefer to wait and watch. Taylor Monahan, 2016 who is now MetaMask crypto wallet’s global product lead, had initiated work on MyEtherWallet, saying that he would not be supporting the Ethereum Classic fork; however, very soon, the company had to change its mind.
