The Ethereum network will experience major changes in January of 2019 during the Constantinople Hard Fork.
Various upgrades and improvements are scheduled to occur to the Ethereum network January 16th considering reports of issues with transaction speed and increased fees. Several DApps have congested the network forcing developers to upgrade the system.
The upgrade was scheduled to happen in October of 2018 but was delayed due to issues with implementation. Therefore, the upgrade will occur mid-January as indicated by several key sources.
Multiple news outlets are calling the Ethereum Constantinople a Hard Fork which has ETH investors and users concerned. However, Ethereum’s developers have come out to stay this fork will not lead to a coin split, rather the Hard Fork is dubbed a system upgrade.
While some talk allows for the contingency of a coin split, it is unlikely this will occur. Understanding what people mean by a Fork first, requires the knowledge of what Ethereum is.
Ethereum’s price per coin has seen a significant shift up by 10% ahead of the scheduled upgrade. The upgrade is anticipated to consist of five new EIPs, or Ethereum Improvement Proposals, decreased block time, inexpensive transaction fees, and much more. Ethereum’s network is hoping to use hash verification to assist with transaction speed, as well as, plans to move toward adopting a Proof of Stake system rather than a Proof of Work system.
Ethereum’s Constantinople is the 2nd part of the Metropolis Development stage which Binance, a major cryptocurrency exchange, shared its public support for. Ethereum’s network hopes the system upgrade will allow for 500 transactions per second and reduce mining rewards from 3 ETH to 2 ETH.
Ethereum’s previously mentioned issues resulted in the coin and network dropping in price and popularity, respectively, and losing its crown to Tron and other cryptocurrency networks.
The Ethereum Constantinople will activate upon the processing of 7,080,000 blocks and is a major event in the network’s long-term plan. Many speculate the Hard Fork will create a chain reaction of other Forks but for the most part, everyone is in agreeance over the scheduled update January 16th. The network is also permitting the introduction of proposals by the ETH community.