Ethereum Classic To Become Fully Compatible With Ethereum After Upcoming Phoenix Hard Fork

Five months after the successful completion of the “Agharta” hard fork at block 9,573,000, the Ethereum Classic (ETC) Core developers announced today that the blockchain would undergo another network upgrade dubbed Phoenix.

Ethereum And Ethereum Classic Compatibility

Phoenix is a system-wide upgrade and will take place on June 3rd, 2020, at exactly block 10,500,839. Per the official announcement from the project, the upcoming hard fork is a product of the consensus between the members of the Ethereum Classic ecosystem.

Like Atlantis and Agharta, the June upgrade will further enhance the interoperability between Ethereum Classic and its sister network, Ethereum. Phoenix will make both chains fully compatible for the first time since the split four years ago.

The Ethereum Classic chain was created in 2016 after the Ethereum’s Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) was compromised with 11.5 million Ether (ETH) hijacked. However, in recent times, both networks have been working to become interoperable.

The Phoenix hard fork will integrate the Ethereum Istanbul network protocol upgrades on the ETC chain while adding the opcodes which already exist on the Ethereum networks since the Istanbul upgrade of 2019.

Phoenix Testnets Implemented

While Phoenix is expected to go live on June 3rd, the date might change as the network moves close to block number 10,500,839.

The project said in the announcement that they have successfully implemented all TestNets of the hard fork, and the ETC core developers are currently preparing to activate the MainNet.

A Turning Point For Ethereum Classic

Since the break-up, Ethereum has managed to become the biggest DeFi chain and the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world after Bitcoin. Ethereum Classic, on the other hand, is currently ranked as the 20th largest coin on CoinMarketCap.

Speaking on the development, Terry Culver, CEO of ETC Labs, explained that the upcoming fork is not only a turning point for the Ethereum Classic but also helps to demonstrate the strong consensus among the stakeholders of the ETC community.

“This upgrade demonstrates the robust development underway on Ethereum Classic, as it is the third hard fork in the last year, and reflects the strong community consensus among ETC stakeholders. The upgrade also marks an important turning point for Ethereum Classic, where now the community is in a position to drive more innovation, to collaborate, and to make fresh technical contributions to the ETC and ETH communities,” he said.