Ethereum developers were urging users to update their Nodes devices— the devices that run the network software and (typically) store the immutable ledger of transactions, just a few months ago,

But this time to delay what’s known as the “difficulty bomb”—a periodic task that will become obsolete after Ethereum 2.0 takes full effect and the network transitions to a proof-of-stake consensus model that does away with crypto mining.

About the Ethereum’s Arrow Glacier upgrade

Compared to the London hard fork that changed the Ethereum fee structure and put deflationary pressures on the network, the Arrow Glacier upgrade planned this week is now almost as intense. In fact, it’s not even as adventure-packed as Altair; the October upgrade set the best time for the beacon chain (the starting point for the Ethereum transition to the Proof of Stake).

The sole purpose of Arrow Glacier is to prevent bomb explosions and give developers more time to migrate the network to Ethereum 2.0. Without it, the availability of the current network may be limited.

The bomb has been ticking since the developers started building the Ethereum network in 2015. The creator of the network hopes to take advantage of Bitcoin’s consensus mechanism, namely

Proof of Work has started an arms race for more and more computing power, which is not good for the environment and the garages, which is why the network is turning to Proof of Stake. In this design, coin holders can lock their ETH to protect the blockchain in the network; In return, even if they do not have the best hardware, they will receive a newly minted ETH in proportion to their contribution.

Since the developers knew early on that they wanted to keep Ethereum away from the proof of work, the developers wrote an incentive on the blockchain to ensure this. This code is called the Difficulty Bomb. While it is still proof of the work, it will make it harder for people to destroy ETH and slow the network down.

Although the London hard fork delayed the detonation until December in August – just like the previous upgrade – developers had to come back to the negotiating table and postpone it again.

I hope that such an upgrade will soon become redundant. Tim Beiko, who coordinates the network’s core developers, wrote last week: “I hope this will be the last time the difficulty bomb will be delayed before Ethereum switches to Proof of Stake!”