Mystique Hard Fork Is Coming-February 13th, 2022

Ethereum Classic has urged the node operators to upgrade to accommodate the latest arrival, the Mystique Hard Fork. 

The Mystique Hard Fork is expected to bring some core changes to the existing infrastructures of the Ethereum Classic network. It is technically classified as the Ethereum Classic Improvement Protocol 1104. The protocol is all set for a launch after the second week of February. The mainnet launch will be at the 14,525,000th block on the Ethereum Classic blockchain.

The ECIP 1104 protocol is based on the London Hard Fork introduced last August by Ethereum blockchain. However, this subset has been designed specifically to suit the plans and features of the ETC blockchain. Moreover, the design is not expected to impact the mode of operations in the old chain in any way and would work to improve the performance.

The ETC team is tirelessly working towards making this implementation a success. Much of the focus is directed towards getting the wallets and exchanges ready for the launch of this major upgrade. But the anonymous nodes and service providers are requested to express their readiness towards the implementation of the protocols in whatever way works for them. The readiness of the platform for such major adoption is estimated through the percentage of upgraded nodes in the network.

The readiness currently stays at 35%, and the number gets a considerable boost as the network is slowly paying towards the deadline. Even 60% to 70% readiness during the time of the launch would help the platform have a seamless start, provided the primary nodes are upgraded in time. The primary nodes are the larger mining pools that are important for the economy of the blockchain. Failing to upgrade in time will restrain one from reaping the benefits of the new features, and they would also experience some bugs. They can easily get back on track just by completing the upgrade.

The ERC network has named the clients that offer support for the new upgrades. Core-geth users need to upgrade to v1.12.4 or the later versions to get the support of Mystique Hard For. Alternatively, they can upgrade to Hyperledger Besu version v21.10.8 or later releases to access the support for this new ECIP 1104 protocol. The users with other managed APIs and third-party service providers are requested to check with them to get a reply regarding this new upgrade.

Protocols like Alternative Refund (EIP 3529) and Rejection of the 0xEF byte contracts (EIP 3541)included this new subset of London Hard Fork. Meanwhile, Free Market Change, BASEFEE opcode, and Difficulty Bomb Delay are left out of this new upgrade. BASEFEE opcode was reportedly excluded due to its conflicting nature with the monetary policies of ETC. Since Ethereum is considered the more authentic of the two networks, Ethereum Classic’s future appears to be less bright than Ethereum’s, particularly given Ethereum Classic’s security concerns. Investors have lost faith in ETC throughout the years as a result of system hacks. According to this Ethereum classic prediction, Ethereum Classic may face hurdles until it can revamp its code and software to prevent future breaches.