Two-Part ProgPoW Postponed Until Q1 2020 to Successfully Allow for Appropriate Changes

Ethereum’s upcoming hard fork launch, dubbed, Istanbul, has been pushed to a later date so that Ethereum developers can make the necessary changes and updates reports news outlet Decrypt.

The project is tailored in a way that allows for two different launches, with the first part (Istanbul 1) being launched on Wednesday, October 16 and the other (Istanbul 2), in the first quarter of 2020. The reason simply being that more time is needed to make the necessary updates.

Coin Desk also reported on this matter, in which six code changes (four approved and two currently pending), i.e., Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) was allegedly revealed for the first part, with the second housing eight approved EIPs.

Here’s Peter Szilagyi, explaining more on what’s required of the developers before launch:

“We split Istanbul into two. One of them we can actually ship within weeks. [The other contains] two really big EIPs that would be nice to have but require some stuff that cannot be done within the two- or three-week timespan.”

As for what the project entails, ProgPoW stands for ‘Progressive Proof-of-Work,’ and is designed to push Ethereum far from the reliance on ASIC mining and moving more towards GPU (Graphic Processing Units). This is supposedly done to ensure that all components are utilized to the fullest.

With the first Istanbul part, users can anticipate accessible mining, increased interoperability with privacy token, Zcash, and protection against replay attacks – a network attack where valid data transmission is falsely repeated.

Given the goals set for ProgPoW, it seems like many oppositions have been expressed. The reason for the latter stems from the entire shift being made with set launch, which has not ben sitting well with a number of individuals.

AMB Crypto reported of Co-Founder of Concourse, Scott Lewis’s opinion, who argued that users deserve better, stressing that,

“Ethereum governance should not be giving out bailouts unless the survival of ethereum in on the line.”

Founder of Gnosis, Martin Koppelmann, is surprised that this endeavor is a thing, making the case that hard forks are done if and only if a “wide community consensus around them,” exists.

He further said,

“I think this is critical of Ethereum being able to become a base settlement layer.”