Ethereum Classic developers unveil plan to shield the network from new attacks

After a series of successful attacks on Ethereum Classic, developers prepared a number of proposals aimed at defending the network in the future. The proposed innovations include short- and long-term steps to reduce the risk of similar attacks and to further develop the network.

Announcing the #ETC Network Security Plan highlighting immediate actions and long-term solutions that ensure a bright future for #EthereumClassic by our CEO, @realetclassic, @etc_core‘s Afri Schoedon, and @BobSummerwill, Executive Director, @ETCCooperative https://t.co/LGaK7PHLId

— Ethereum Classic Labs (@etclabs) August 19, 2020

Immediate measures include:

• Ensuring a more stable hashrate by engaging with mining pools and miners, and boosting it when necessary;
• Expanding network monitoring to detect anomalous deviations in hashrate and prices in mining pools;
• Close cooperation with exchanges to add wallets to whitelists and set transaction confirmation times;
• Implementation of the Permapoint solution to curb attempts to reorganize the chain while preserving consensus.

Long-term plans require user approval and may be revised.

They include:

• Enhancing protection against 51% attacks by introducing additional checks or the PirlGuard solution. Implementation could take place in roughly three months after the necessary specifications are prepared;
• Changing the mining algorithm from Proof-of-Work to one of two alternatives: Keccak-256 or RandomX;
• Creating a treasury for ETC coins in the event of reaching consensus.

The developers split the proposed changes into five stages through January 2021. That timeframe will be required to coordinate changes with the community, develop them and implement them.

Earlier in August, a series of 51% attacks on the Ethereum Classic network occurred. The damage according to analytics estimated at $5.6 million, the second — at $1.68 million.

Earlier, Coinbase increased the confirmation time for Ethereum Classic deposits, and OKEx stated that the coin might be delisted.

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