Key Dates for the Berlin Upgrade
After what feels like an eternity of planning (or at least a long coffee break), the Ethereum community is finally set to launch the Berlin upgrade. Get ready for some techie festivities, as it’s officially planned for the Ethereum mainnet at block 12,244,000, slated to arrive on April 14. But hold your horses; we’ve got a lineup of testnet festivities first! Ropsten will kick off the party on March 10, followed by Goerli and Rinkeby on the 17th and 24th, making them the opening acts to the main event.
Preparation for Node Operators
Attention all Ethereum node operators: it’s your time to shine! You’ll want to upgrade to the Berlin-compatible version of your node ASAP for the testnets, and definitely before April 7 for the mainnet. Tim Beiko, our neighborhood Ethereum guru, suggests:
“Ethereum node operators should upgrade their nodes prior to the fork block on the networks they want to participate in.”
Due to block time variability—the thing that turns coffee into anxiety—it’s best to update a few days before the expected date.
No Action Needed for Wallet Services
Good news for exchanges, wallet service providers, and ETH holders: you can sit back and relax. No immediate action is required on your part. Yes, it’s your turn to bask in the effortless upgrade experience while the node operators sweat it out!
The Main Features of Berlin
What can we look forward to in the Berlin upgrade? A hearty meal of four Ethereum Improvement Protocols (EIPs) will be served:
- EIP-2565: Lowering the cost of the ModExp precompile. Sweeten the deal!
- EIP-2929: A pump in certain gas costs. Not the range rover you wanted, but we’re working with what we have.
- EIP-2718: Introducing a spiffy new transaction type. Because who doesn’t love snazzy upgrades?
- EIP-2930: New transaction type with optional access lists. Choices are good, right?
Looking Back and Ahead
Berlin is the latest chapter in Ethereum’s story following the Istanbul and Muir Glacier upgrades from late 2019 and early 2020. How fitting, then, that this upgrade is named after the city that hosted Devcon 0, as we continue down the road to more significant changes. Next in line? You guessed it: the London upgrade, inspired by Devcon 1. Can’t wait to see what those folks have in store!
Market Movements
And as if all this excitement weren’t enough, the ETH price saw a jump of 6.5% on Monday, landing at $1,767. With a total market cap of $201 billion, Ethereum is clearly doing just fine. So put on your party hats—Berlin is right around the corner!
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