These Are The Most Prominent Upgrades on Ethereum Network to This Date

Smart contracts and decentralized apps may be made using Ethereum, a decentralized blockchain platform. It is the second-largest cryptocurrency platform after Bitcoin. Over the years, Ethereum has undergone several significant upgrades to improve its scalability, security, and functionality. This blog will discuss the most prominent past and future promotions on the Ethereum network.

Homestead, Byzantium, Constantinople, and Istanbul upgrades introduced new and improved features to the Ethereum network, such as improvements to the Ethereum Virtual Machine, adding new opcodes, and changes to gas pricing. The primary goal was to improve the network’s scalability and transaction speed.

Ethereum Hard Fork DAO

This upgrade was deployed in 2016 to address security vulnerabilities in the DAO smart contract. Two distinct Ethereum networks, Ethereum and Ethereum Classic, were created as a result of the hard fork.

Ethereum Shanghai upgrade

Deployed in September 2021, this upgrade was a major step in the Ethereum 2.0 roadmap. It introduced several significant changes, including reducing the gas fees for certain transactions and improving the efficiency of smart contracts. The upgrade also included new data structures to improve storage and bandwidth efficiency.

The Shanghai Renovation is Almost Complete

The “Shapella” or “Shanghai” update will allow for the release of staked ether (sETH) withdrawals. Since the network started utilizing validators who risk 32 ETH to approve and add blocks to the blockchain, Ethereum has switched to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus method.

Optimism to Upgrade to Bedrock

An essential update to Optimism to upgrade to Bedrock Optimism, an Ethereum layer two scaling system, will take place in March to lower transaction costs, speed up transactions, and improve interoperability with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

By preserving the integrity of the Ethereum blockchain, the layer two protocol seeks to reduce the cost of Ethereum transactions. This is accomplished by giving users access to “Optimistic roll-ups,” a scaling system that groups several transactions and delivers them back to the Ethereum blockchain as a single transaction. Following that, several users share at the expense of that single transaction.

The ZK-rollup Race Gets More Intense

Polygon, a different Ethereum scaling project, will release its roll-up mechanism in March.

Long working on its own Zero-Knowledge Roll-up (ZK Roll-up), Polygon announced in February that its beta zkEVM will premiere in March.

ZK roll-ups employ intricate encryption to provide “proofs” that demonstrate the validity of a transaction with the least amount of relevant data. For its ZK Roll-Up, the zkEVM installs the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), enabling developers to migrate their Ethereum intelligent contracts seamlessly.

The Ethereum network has come a long way since its inception and has undergone significant upgrades to improve its scalability, security, and functionality. With the upcoming Ethereum London and Altair upgrades and the ongoing Ethereum 2.0 roadmap, the future of the Ethereum network looks promising.

As the world continues to embrace decentralized applications and smart contracts, the Ethereum network is well-positioned to play a significant role in the blockchain ecosystem.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions stated by the author, or any people named in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not establish financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading crypto assets comes with a risk of financial loss.

Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while his post-graduation. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing along with being a developer. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing