In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin stated that implementing Ethereum’s London hard fork this past week represented a significant step forward for the cryptocurrency. He also noted that the London hard fork was vital to implementing new upgrades to the Ethereum network.What changes have been made to the Ethereum network? What future upgrades can we expect to see on the Ethereum network? An how do these upgrades affect the value of Ether (ETH) in the short term and long term. Follow along as we provide a careful analysis of past and future upgrades to the Ethereum network.
Recent upgrades On the Ethereum Network
There has been a lot of upgrades to the Ethereum network in the past. However, the recent London hard fork upgrade has been the most significant so far, with several Ethereum Improvement Programs implemented.The most significant Ethereum Improvement Program in the recent upgrade was the EIP-1599. This upgrade has introduced a burn feature into the Ethereum network by reducing the transaction fees of miners on the Ethereum network. With the EIP-1599 upgrades already set in motion, the fee reduction feature on the network has been activated. The goal of the EIP 1599 upgrade is to create a deflationary effect by reducing its circulating supply.With the EIP 1599 upgrade, approximately two Ether coins burn up per minute, translating to roughly $8,900 worth of Ether (ETH) burned up every minute. The new upgrade on the Ethereum network has resulted in price gains for the Ether, the native coin of the Etherum network.Shortly before the London hard fork went into effect, the Ether (ETH) coin price was ranged from around $2500 to $2600. However, after implementing the Ethereum Improvement Programs, Ether (ETH) experienced an 18% increase in coin price. As of August 10, 2021, the ETH coin price hit a weekly high of $3200.
Ether (ETH) coin price on August 3, 2021, shortly before the Ethereum Hard Fork.
Ether (ETH) coin price on August 10, 2021, a week after implementing the Ethereum Hard Fork.Speaking on the effects of the Ethereum hard fork, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin stated that “EIP 1599 is the most important part of London hard fork.” he further added that implementing these upgrades is proof that the Ethereum ecosystem can make significant changes.”
Future Upgrades on The Ethereum Network
The Ethereum network has some significant upgrades to implement in the future. For instance, the network plans to transition from a proof-of-work system to a proof-of-stake system. However, this transition will come with a full implementation of Ethereum 2.0, which is currently under development. Currently, the Ethereum network runs on a proof of work system. This system is vital to the functionality of the Ethereum network. For example, the proof of work system prevents any economic attacks on the Ethereum network. Additionally, the network allows computer nodes to agree on the authenticity of the data released on the Ethereum network. However, the proof of work system has numerous drawbacks.These drawbacks include high energy consumption, high gas fees, and insufficient disk space, which poses a problem for massive adoption in the future. To solve this problem, the devs team has decided to transition from the proof of work system to the proof of stake system.Among many other things, the proof of stake system will significantly reduce the energy consumption of Ethereum. Additionally, with the launch of ETH 2.0, the Ethereum network is expected to offer better scalability, security, and sustainability in the long term. Furthermore, the planned upgrade is expected to significantly reduce the cost of gas fees attached to transactions on the Ethereum network.In a roadmap released by the Ethereum devs team members, the plan of action for implementing the ETH 2.0 is set out in three stages. These stages are the Beacon Chain, Merge, and Shard Chains.
Beacon Chain:
This is the first phase of the ETH 2.0 project. The devs team officially released the beacon chain in 2020. Among other things, the beacon chain technology added staking to the network. Additionally, it paved the way for future upgrades. Currently, the Beacon Chain is live in testing mode and will eventually become the foundation on which ETH 2 is built.Merge: It is anticipated that the Ethereum merger will take place sometime in late 2021 or early 2022. At this point, the Beacon Chain will be connected to Ethereum’s main net, thus enabling staking on the Ethereum blockchain and bringing an end to mining.
Shard Chains:
Essentially, this will lead to the splitting of the Ethereum network, which will result in an increased ability to process transactions and store data. In 2022, sharding chains will be implemented.The Ethereum network’s adaptability will be tested again once these upgrades are implemented. The Ethereum founder stated that he is confident that Ethereum will be able to achieve more critical upgrades after the success of the London hard fork upgrade in his interview with Bloomberg. He further stated that he expects the merge to ETH 2.0 to occur early in 2022. However, the merge may likely come as early as 2021.The London hard fork had a positive effect on the price of ETH in the short term. We can expect to see more increases in the token’s value as more upgrades are carried out on the network. We are basing our prediction on several factors associated with the Ethereum network in the future. We expect to see upgrades that will increase scalability, security, and sustainability in the long term. Additionally, coming upgrades will reduce transaction fees (Gas Fees) on the Ethereum network. Also, with a transition to a proof of stake system, we expect to reduce energy consumption significantly. Most importantly, we expect to see a large adoption of Ethereum from crypto traders across the globe as the platform overcomes its drawbacks.These factors point to a major increase in the value of Ethereum in the short term and long term. However, we encourage our readers to research each token before investing their money carefully. Watch out for this space as we continue to provide updates on the Ethereum network and other trending topics in the crypto space.
