Berlin hard fork in the Ethereum network planned for January 2021

The Berlin update on the Ethereum network is expected within a few months. Developers agreed during another conference call.

The hard fork is scheduled for January next year, after the December launch of phase zero of Ethereum 2.0. As part of this, the activation of the Beacon Chain using the Proof-of-Stake algorithm is planned.

What is Ethereum 2.0?

Berlin is designed to improve the functionality of the first version of the Ethereum network and optimise the operation of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

EIP-2537 will not be included in Berlin. The proposal was intended to simplify interaction between the second and first versions of the Ethereum blockchain by using similar cryptographic structures.

The update also does not include EIP-1559, which would alter the model for calculating transaction fees.

In the coming weeks, the YOLO v3 testnet will be launched to test the operation of the updated system.

Following the July conference call, developers, concerned about the excessive concentration of Geth nodes, postponed the Berlin hard fork at least until August.

However, the situation has only worsened since then. At the time of writing, according to Ethernodes, Geth accounts for 81.4% of nodes. In early July this figure stood at 79%.

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