The Phoenix upgrade for Ethereum Classic (ETC), which was successfully activated on the Mordor TestNet last month, will go live on the Kotti Testnet next week which in turn will lead to implementation on the MainNet in the first week of June.
The upgrade, known more formally as upgrade ECIP-1088, is intended to increase the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) capabilities of Ethereum Classic. The EVM is what underpins the executions of smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain (ETH). Phoenix will build upon the previous Atlantis and Agharta hard forks that have already improved the compatibility of ETC with ETH.
Although originally pencilled in for a March 2020 release, Phoenix appears to have been slightly delayed to allow developers extra time to monitor the rollout in the TestNet phases. The ETC MainNet Phoenix activation will now take place on or around 5 June at block 10_500_839.
Beneficial Timeline
Following the launch of Ethereum in July 2015, the infamous DAO hack a year later saw the blockchain split into two with ETC continuing with the unaltered history of the network and with ETH taking the lead in the terms of size of market share.
Ethereum’s figure head, Vitalik Buterin, has recently stated that a rejoining of the blockchains is a possibility but the idea has yet to generate any real traction within either community.
Developers of ETC received a boost in confidence earlier this year when Grayscale Investments confirmed they will continue to back the project by donating one third of the management fees generated from it’s Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust.
Since becoming an active supporter of the protocol in 2017, Grayscale have reportedly donated around $1.1 million to aid in the blockchain’s development.
