Ethereum’s Byzantium fork might not go as smoothly as some might have hoped.
One of Ethereum’s biggest client’s, Parity, has yet to release the software that includes the protocol changes needed for the big shift. Parity Technologies supports roughly 25 percent of all Ethereum nodes and most major versions of the software have already published their releases.
The wait could foreshadow potential complications but it’s still too early to be concerned. In order for the hard fork to be successful on Ethereum, all nodes must have an updated software with the release that contains updated protocols and the block number of the hard fork.
These upgrades are triggered instantly across the network when the block number is reached unless the software hasn’t been upgraded.
Earlier in the week, Parity released two Byzantium-set releases that contained a “consensus bug” causing the networks to lose communication and split. Parity developers are currently hard at work to remove this bug from the code and get a release out in time for the Byzantium fork.
If the release isn’t out in time, it could mean a lot of further complications down the line. According to Ether Nodes, only 17% percent of Parity clients are running the new faulty Byzantium, while 80% have yet to even upgrade at all. It will be interesting to see closer to Sunday if they can get the problems fixed and how many will upgrade in time before the big fork.
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