Phoenix Ethereum Classic Network Upgrade Proceeds to Accepted Status and on Schedule

The Phoenix, Ethereum Classic upgrade has now proceeded to Accepted status. The Mordor TestNet successfully activated the Phoenix upgrade on March 9th 2020. The Kotti Testnet will fork at block 2_200_013, around April 13, 2020. When all TestNets are determined to have successfully activated Phoenix, then Phoenix will proceed to MainNet. At the moment, the upgrade is proceeding as scheduled.

The Phoenix hard-fork schedule

Estimated dates may change as the network moves closer to the activation block.

1. Mordor TestNet activation at block 999_983, successfully activated on March 09, 2020.
2. Kotti TestNet activation at block 2_200_013, or around April 13, 2020.
3. Ethereum Classic MainNet activation at block 10_500_839, or around June 05, 2020.

What’s Phoenix?

Ethereum Classic is undergoing another network upgrade code named, Phoenix (ECIP-1088). Participating core dev stakeholders concluded consensus on February 26, 2020, to accept ECIP-1088.

Phoenix will be inclusive of the Ethereum Foundation Instanbul network protocol upgrades on the Ethereum Classic network, further enhancing EVM capabilities on ETC. Various opcodes will be added to the ETC network, all of which have been in use on ETH networks since end of 2019. Ethereum Classic greatly increased ETC-ETH compatibility with the Atlantis and Agharta hard-forks. While those hard-forks made ETC and ETH technically compatible, Phoenix will make them absolutely compatible.

As a Miner, Exchange, or User, what do I need to do?

To ensure a successful fork, we ask consumers upgrade their node software to a fork compatible version if they have not done so already. TestNet and MainNet support are currently supported in the following clients.

• Core-geth, v1.11.0 or later.
• Hyperledger Besu, v1.4.1 or later.

Dear OpenEthereum (Parity) and Multi-geth consumers

We strongly advise ETC node operators use Core-geth or Hyperledger Besu. Core-geth is directly maintained by ETC Core’s protocol provider team and ETC Coop is funding ETC support in Hyperledger Besu.

We are aware a significant number of consumers are using ETC Core’s releases of Multi-geth, but ETC Core is no longer maintaining Multi-geth. We advise those Multi-geth consumers to migrate to Core-geth.

OpenEthereum (Parity) is not supporting Phoenix and has not confirmed support, but we advise OpenEthereum users migrate to Core-geth or Hyperledger Besu because OpenEthereum’s technical ETC support is not solidified.

• Core-geth: http://core-geth.org/
• Hyperledger Besu: https://besu.hyperledger.org/

Dear Geth-Classic consumers

Geth-Classic is deprecated and reached end-of-life. Geth-Classic will not be maintained for Ethereum Classic any longer nor is it sufficient for the Phoenix hard-fork. We advise Geth-Classic consumers migrate to Core-geth.

Dear DApp Developers

Phoenix will break some contracts amounting to a sum of 0.003 ETC. These contracts have not seen active use and we expect this change to have minor effect. These contracts are affected because EIP-1884 introduces gas repricing for SLOAD (0x54), BALANCE (0x31), and EXTCODEHASH (0x3F) opcodes. Please review the scope of ECIP-1088 to determine if your smart contract will be affected.

What changes are included in the Phoenix Hard Fork?

The detailed specification can be found in ECIP-1088.

• EIP-152: Add Blake2 compression function F precompile
• EIP-1108: Reduce alt_bn128 precompile gas costs
• EIP-1344: Add ChainID opcode
• EIP-1884: Repricing for trie-size-dependent opcodes
• EIP-2028: Calldata gas cost reduction
• EIP-2200: Rebalance net-metered SSTORE gas cost with consideration of SLOAD gas cost change

What is a hard fork in Ethereum Classic?

A hard fork is a change to the underlying Ethereum Classic protocol, creating new rules to improve the system. The protocol changes are activated at a specific block number. All Ethereum Classic clients need to upgrade, otherwise, they will be stuck on an incompatible chain following the old rules.

DISCLAIMER This is an emergent and evolving highly technical space. If you choose to implement the recommendations in this post and continue to participate, you should make sure you understand how it impacts you. You should understand that there are risks involved including but not limited to risks like unexpected bugs. By choosing to implement these recommendations, you alone assume the risks of the consequences. This post and recommendations are not a sale of any kind and do not create any warranties of any kind including but not limited to any relating to the Ethereum Classic network or the Ethereum Classic clients referred to herein.