Ethereum’s London Hard Fork: What To Expect
The London Hard Fork is only days away as Ethereum devotees await newer upgrades. Optimism is high with bullish proponents even predicting a possible flippening. What is the hard fork set to accomplish, and what should we expect of Ethereum in the near future?
The London Fork
The upcoming Ethereum fork is regarded as its most significant hard fork since its contentious one in 2016. The highly contested 2016 DAO fork led to the creation of Ethereum Classic (ETC), and a rivalry that stayed in the news for a while. This time, nothing of such is expected to happen. What is confirmed to happen, however, regardless of the half-hearted wave of dissent rippling through some Ethereum camps, is the London Hard Fork scheduled for 4th August, 2021.
Why Is the Fork Important?
The London Fork contains five proposals, which have been carefully selected to address frailties and flaws regarding the Ethereum blockchain. EIPs (Ethereum Improvement Proposals)were inspired by similar Bitcoin proposals (BIPs) and can be suggested by anyone in the Ethereum community.
EIP-1559 and EIP-3554 are considered to be the most integral parts of Ethereum’s coming hard fork, with the former getting the most coverage. EIP-1559 is expected to severely reduce the inflation of transaction fees on the Ethereum blockchain while adding a base fee.
Following EIP-1559’s implementation, a user would be given a chance to set transaction fees, removing the unpredictability that was often associated with the exercise altogether. Hence, when a user transacts ETH, they get to choose between “fast”, “normal”, or “slow” bids for their transactions. This is similar to making a bid to miner nodes.
EIP-3554, the second most important proposal, also termed “The Difficulty Bomb Delay”, is expected to delay the difficulty of mining ETH to December 2021. Hence making ETH mining less appealing to miners, while also easing the transit of the Ethereum blockchain from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake.
Evaluating the Impact of The London Hard Fork
Could the Ethereum Hard Fork propel the price of Ethereum off the charts?
It is generally accepted that the London Fork is a positive development, and positive developments are good for the market.
Belief in the future of Ethereum has been going strong in the months building up to its hard fork, especially institutional belief. Goldman Sachs, one of the most important financial enterprises in the US, and a one time detractor of cryptocurrencies, is now one of the biggest Ethereum proponents on the planet. Goldman Sachs is not at all shy in its prediction, and is confident Ethereum is finally closer to the flippening of Bitcoin now more than ever.
While there are very optimistic expectations regarding the future of Ethereum following its planned upgrades, it’s not all positive for all parties. Apart from the fact that miners on Ethereum would begin to receive far lower incentives once the fork is completed, popular gas tokens like GST2 and CHI are expected to lose most of their value or even become obsolete, according to analyst, Alex Kroeger.
Regardless, Ethereum’s coming hard fork is the start of a new era, and leads the way as more cryptocurrencies continue to search for more environmentally-friendly innovations.
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