GIFX exchange, its trading platform, and the entire Ethreum-blockchain network have been impacted by the Blockchain upgrade of Ethereum'...
At this deplorable moment, GIFA Token would like to make an announcement for the postponement of the LUCKY DRAW that was supposed to end on 16 April at 23:59 midnight. We have now changed the prize draw date to the 30th of April 2021 at 23:59 because most of GIFA Token's users were unable to complete their application and registering process due to the technical gitch-issues that happened with the blockchain ecosystem, which mainly affects Ethereum -Non-fungible tokens (NFT). Please share this news with others!
Ethereum's latest network upgrade, Berlin, started on Thursday 15 April, in the morning. But a syncing issue appears to have snarled a number of FinTech companies, crypto exchanges, and services that rely on a particular Ethereum software peer-to-peer client, including GIFA Token - exchange.
The OpenEthereum team said it has identified and applied a fix to the issue, according to an official statement on Twitter.
The OpenEthereum issue has been resolved: https://t.co/dgb0StkPcE.
— OpenEthereum (@OpenEthereumOrg) April 15, 2021
Thank you @mhswende, @sorpaas, @nethermindeth, @turbogeth, @go_ethereum and the developers and community for the support that made this fix possible in an incredibly short time period.
The client in question is OpenEthereum, formerly the software client maintained by Parity. Developers for both OpenEthereum as well as the network's core developer team are working on a fix, according to a statement from data service provider Etherscan.
"The OpenEthereum team and core developers are aware of the syncing issues facing the OE [OpenEthereum] client and are working to diagnose the tech glitches and fix them," Etherscan said in a message posted to its website. The syncing problem cropped up at block 12,244,294, shortly after Berlin went live at block number 12,244,000, according to Etherscan.
Meanwhile, major services that appear to be impacted by the syncing problem issued statements about potential disruptions in light of the issue. Many exchanges have disabled ETH & ERC-20 withdrawals at the moment while we investigate a potential issue with the recent network upgrade. Receives will also be delayed.
Ethereum Berlin Upgrade Includes Fixes To Tackle Gas Price Problem
Berlin is the fifth network upgrade in Ethereum's history, after December 2019's Istanbul. As The Block Research reported recently, Berlin is mainly focused on reducing gas fees and allowing new transaction types. The Ethereum Berlin upgrade goes live on April 14. This is the first update since Istanbul 15 months ago. The update comes at a time when the price of ethereum (ETH) is relatively stable, hovering around $2,000 over the past weeks, and the amount of staked ETH reaches over $6 billion.
Traffic, Congestion, and Gas
Decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been on everyone’s minds and in everyone’s wallets for the better part of the year. This was great for all of the project’s building on the ERC20 and ERC710 standard. However, users found themselves battered by jaw-dropping fees and sluggish transaction times. The Ethereum network needed to rise to the needs of its growing user base. Enter the Berlin upgrade.
Berlin seeks to provide answers to increased fees and complex transaction processes through this Ethereum improvement proposal (EIP). Gas prices were high due to the double-edged sword of Ethereum’s increasing price point and the ever-growing demand for assets on the network.
In late February, transaction fee averages reached almost $40, which was an all-time high. Yet, rates even half that amount are burdensome for developers and those seeking to perform small-scale transactions. High fees are a two-sided problem. Primarily, it inhibits individuals from transacting on Ethereum. The so-called “world computer” is useless if no one can afford to use it.
Furthermore, it makes building on Ethereum less attractive for new startups looking to build out a robust customer base. These high fees are an issue that the network needs to solve to maintain its position as the king of altcoins.
The rise in NFTs has made this issue all the more critical. Traffic and congestion on the Ethereum blockchain are likely to remain an issue until some viable scaling is accomplished. While community members are looking forward to an update that solves these challenges, analysts wonder if Berlin is a long-term solution to wicked problems in the run-up to ETH2.
What is the Ethereum Berlin upgrade?
The Berlin upgrade will feature a total of four protocols. Each of these aims to conquer some of the pervasive challenges in the Ethereum ecosystem as a whole. Some of the new protocols to be released in the April upgrade include:
- EIP-2565 = reduce the cost of the ModExp precompile. This will help calculate the gas prices.
- EIP-2929 = will ‘increase’ certain gas costs when used for the first time in a transaction.
- EIP-2718 = will introduce a new transaction module that will support multiple transactions.
- EIP-2930 = will transaction type with optional access lists. This particular EIP will help alleviate some of the newly imposed gas prices from EIP-2929.
So the whole Ethereum network needs to upgrade to Berlin-compatible nodes and this was supposed to be completed a long time ago since the system is operating on an obsolete network. Fortunately, the regular user base, wallets, and exchanges like GIFX exchange, ChainLink, and other Ethereum-based tokens will not have to take action while the operators working to ensure that the node eventually migrates to a new network, the Berlin node.
The Berlin upgrade is a step towards the Ethereum Foundation’s Ehereum 2.0 metamorphosis, with its main new component being a complete change to the way the network processes transaction fees. Instead of having the fee sent to the miners, the fee will be sent to the network and be burned. In turn, this will reduce the supply of ether and gas fees, which remains a controversy among the community in general, and the miners specifically.
Unhappy Miners
The gas fees, Particularly irksome to the mining community is those reward ratios on the Ethereum blockchain are anticipated to be slashed by up to 50%. This is incredibly taxing for community members. In addition, they are instrumental to the function of the blockchain. For ether to continue its growth, it must not only attract new developers but sustainable mining.
With the many hurdles the Ethereum network has faced since the Istanbul upgrade, Berlin is a long-awaited step forward. However, as the demand for altcoins, NFTs, and DeFi sectors, it remains to be seen how this upgrade will make these transactions run more smoothly and if gas prices will come down.
This is a developing story and will be updated as new information available.