Ethereum network developers have defended major changes scheduled for the summer that will destroy ether tokens and reduce fees charged to miners, claiming that they are popular with users and could raise the cryptocurrency’s price.
On Tuesday, Ben Edgington, a developer at ConsenSys, a company closely involved in the network, said that the proposed network change, known in crypto jargon as EIP-1559, “is very common among Ethereum users as it potentially makes Ethereum a deflationary asset.”
In March, Ethereum developers approved major improvements to the network that runs the ether cryptocurrency. They want to reform the current scheme, which requires users to send tokens to miners in exchange for transactions to be completed in a sort of auction.
However, the reforms have angered miners because they would reduce the payments they earn. Some have even mentioned going on strike.
However, developers claim that users are in favor of the changes, partly because the decrease in coins could cause the price of ether to skyrocket. On Wednesday, Ether was trading at about $1,800. So far this year, the token has earned about 145 percent.
“Its aim is to provide a more stable transaction pricing mechanism that reduces overpayment, and has some deflationary economics as a side benefit,” Dan Finlay, lead developer on popular Ethereum wallet MetaMask, said.
Users will send a base transaction fee to the network, which will then kill or “burn” ether tokens, decreasing the number of coins in circulation. The changes are scheduled to take effect in July.
It would move the system away from the current process, which requires users to bid for their transactions to be included in blocks by miners, which can be very expensive at times.
These problems, according to Edgington, are “a serious problem for Ethereum usability and an obstacle to wider adoption of Ethereum by non-specialists.”
The improvements, according to Lex Sokolin, co-head of fintech at ConsenSys, would transform network fees “from an unpredictable and unbounded pricing process to something far more predictable.”
There is a lot of “turmoil” in the Ethereum community, according to the anonymous founder of Pylon, a major North American ether miner. They said that miners had invested time and resources in constructing facilities and that as a result of the changes, they could suffer significant losses.
“It comes down to the fact that developers don’t mine, so they don’t care about a miner, and miners don’t build, so they don’t care about reducing congestion,” they explained.
In response to the reforms, some ether miners have threatened to go on strike or try to disrupt the system in other ways.
However, there are signs of peace breaking out, with miners introducing their own EIP – Ethereum improvement proposal – that would gradually boost and lower their rewards.
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Featured Information:
- Ethereum developers have defended the network improvements that will take place this summer.
- They say that the changes are well-received by users because they simplify fees and restrict ether supply.
- However, miners are displeased that their fees will be reduced, and there is an ongoing discussion in the group.
