The simulated hard fork was executed on Ropsten, the Ethereum testing environment, and is expected to run for a few weeks of troubleshooting before the fork occurs on the main Ethereum blockchain, currently the world’s second-largest by market capitalization, according to CoinDesk.
Nine EIPs (Ethereum improvement protocols) will be introduced in the Byzantium hard fork during the testing period. As detailed by CoinDesk, the aims of the code updates is to increase the functionality of the network while minimizing potential exploits and also paving the way for novel cryptography on the Ethereum platform.
Furthermore, the actual Byzantium hard fork is likely to occur sometime around October 9. However, this is contingent on whether the test does not cause unanticipated problems. Nevertheless, the Ethereum developers are expected to announce a formal date for the hard fork shortly – provided everything runs according to plan.
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