Ethereum Sets Date for Fourth Blockchain Fork

Ethereum's developers have unveiled new details about a technical fork aimed at resolving lingering network issues.

Officially merged into the code of the most popular ethereum client, the new rules will trigger at block number 2,675,000 — likely to occur sometime around Tuesday of next week.

The update will erase empty accounts that unknown attackers used to bloat the ethereum blockchain by way of a hard fork, a process generally seen as a dangerous way of upgrading the software (all miners will need to upgrade to the new network).

But according to some developers, the reality is more complex. Attacks have slowed down block and transaction processing on the network. With details of the fork previously unannounced, users have been asking for an update.

The announcement is likely to lead to the usual criticisms of the platform that have emerged this year. This will mark ethereum's fourth hard fork, the second of which would emerge as its most controversial, altering ethereum's transaction history and splitting the network into two.

Yet, the third went according to plan without any widely known negative side effects in October. Developers argue that since the fourth fork is an uncontroversial technical update, it will likely be as smooth as the third.

The latest fork will also include replay attack protection, which was the source of user frustration over the summer.

Metal fork and knife image via Shutterstock