The developers of Ethereum Classic (ETC) announce the next hard fork of the network. It will be a major update that could take place this July. It should allow users to save on gas costs.
Magneto: the hero of Ethereum Classic (ETC)?
This week, the developers of the Ethereum Classic blockchain announced a new hard fork of the network, which is now scheduled to be launched in late July. Dubbed “Magneto,” the upgrade will include 4 EIPs (Ethereum improvement proposals) first seen in Ethereum’s Berlin hard fork earlier this year.
These proposals aim to improve the security of the network, while saving on gas costs. To do this, addresses and keys will be stored in one place for users to access in a single transaction.
Beta testing on the Morder and Kotti networks of Ethereum Classic began on June 2 and 9 respectively. Magneto is expected to be officially validated, once the testnets are completed.
Stevan Lohja, Developer Relations Manager at Mantis, told the Ethereum Classic community:
To ensure this fork, we are asking ETC holders to upgrade their software to a compatible version of Magneto, if they have not already done so. If you are not using nodes or services, but are using ETCs through other services, check with that service to make sure they support the Magneto hard fork.
Ethereum Classic: a certain vision of Ethereum
The Ethereum Classic project is the result of a real schism between two irreconcilable visions of Ethereum, which led to two different projects. This split was caused by the loss of $60 million, following a flaw in the project “TheDAO” – one of the first attempts at decentralized autonomous organizations.
After this breach exploitation, the majority of Ethereum developers (including Vitalik Buterin) saw fit to roll back the malicious transactions, with the aim of making the hacker’s attack disappear, and return the stolen funds to their respective owners.
Some thought that this move would put an end to one of the fundamental principles of Ethereum: “the code is the law”. These users therefore felt it was better to accept the loss and learn from the mistakes that allowed the hacker to siphon off the funds. As a result, the Ethereum Classic project moved away from Ethereum in an effort to preserve what some considered to be the most accurate representation of the project’s blockchain.
As a result, the Ethereum Classic community is about to experience its revolution, ironically inspired by the work of its competitor since 2016, Ethereum-ETH. The arrival of EIP 1559 could well change everything as early as this summer.