Ethereum Coders Approve 6 Changes for Upcoming Istanbul Hard Fork

Ethereum core developers finalized late Thursday a list of six different code changes to be activated for ethereum's next system-wide upgrade, Istanbul.

The first, which will feature all six code changes, or ethereum improvement proposals, is tentatively expected to execute on ethereum mainnet this October.

Istanbul Part 1 will be the eighth hard fork to be activated on the $22 billion blockchain network.

Developers behind major ethereum clients such as Geth and Parity now have exactly one week to integrate the newly affirmed list of six EIPs into their software and prepare to implement the full code on a live ethereum test network.

While the original target date for Istanbul's testnet activation on ethereum testnet Ropsten was this Wednesday, Aug. 14, Szilágyi noted during Thursday's call that the target needed to be pushed back two weeks in order to give developers time to finalize the list of EIPs going into Istanbul Part 1.

"With previous hard forks, after everybody implemented , we had literally months of testing before rolling out to the testnet. Now, we just came up with a final list of EIPs and we want to fork in two weeks? That's a bit brave," Szilágyi said on the call.

As with any hard fork, ethereum miners must upgrade simultaneously to the latest software or risk causing a chain split in the network.

"The security and stability of the network are primary concerns when it comes to doing hard fork on mainnet so the testnet release is a vital step in making sure that mainnet release go smoothly."

Jameson affirmed that while delayed, a testnet activation of Istanbul Part 1 is something all ethereum core developers want to see happen soon.

"[Ethereum] core developers are excited to get the Ropsten testnet hard fork going to make sure that everything's working correctly," said Jameson.