Ethereum "Berlin" hard fork upgrade is set! Expected to be implemented on April 14

Ethereum’s “Berlin” hard fork upgrade is ready for deployment.

We will be moving very quickly with this upgrade: the first testnet, Ropsten, is scheduled to be upgraded on March 10. The mainnet upgrade is scheduled to be released on April 14.

Berlin upgrade timetable

After months of planning, Berlin is finally here! It is the latest upgrade after Istanbul and Muir Glacier, and is scheduled to go live at block 12 244 000 on the Ethereum mainnet. We expect this to happen around Wednesday, April 14, 2021, but due to the variability of block times, the exact date may change.

Before being deployed on the mainnet, the upgrade will be conducted on three major testnets: Ropsten, Goerli, and Rinkeby. The entire release schedule is as follows:

Ethereum node operators should upgrade their nodes before the fork block time is reached on the network they wish to join. Due to the variability of block times, it is recommended that client updates be completed at least a few days before the expected date. See the following section for the appropriate client version to upgrade to.

Client version

To be compatible with the Berlin upgrade, node operators will need to upgrade the client version they are running. Each client version listed below supports the Berlin upgrade in all Ethereum networks (testnet and mainnet).

• go-ethereum (geth) (1.10.1)

• OpenEthereum (fka Parity) (3.2.0)

• Nethermind (1.10.31)

• Besu (21.1.1)

Note that TurboGeth and EthereumJS will not have client versions ready for the first testnet, but will be released before mainnet. We will update this post when they have usable versions. Trinity is now deprecated and will not support the Berlin upgrade.

Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) included in the Berlin upgrade

The Ethereum Berlin upgrade introduced the following 4 EIPs to the Ethereum network:

• EIP-2565: ModExp gas costs

Reduce the gas cost of ModExp (0x00..05) precompilation;

• EIP-2929: Increase gas costs for state access opcodes‌

When used for the first time in a transaction, it increases the gas cost of SLOAD, *CALL, BALANCE, EXT*, and SELFEDESTRUCT;

• EIP-2718: Typed Transaction Envelope

Introduced a new transaction type, which is an envelope, to make it easier to support multiple transaction types;

• EIP-2930: Optional access lists‌

Add a transaction type that contains an access list and a list of addresses and storage keys that the transaction plans to access. This mitigates some of the gas cost increase introduced by EIP-2929.

To learn more about each EIP, see the “ Berlin Overview‌ ” post by Ethereum Cat Herder .

FAQ

• Why was the name "Berlin" chosen?

After Ethereum Istanbul, we have run out of names to upgrade the network as planned. We suggest upgrading to cities that have hosted Devcon conferences in the past. Berlin was the venue for Devcon 0, and the next upgrade will be called London, which was also the venue for Devcon 1.

• As an Ethereum user or Ethereum holder, what do I need to do?

If you use an exchange (such as Coinbase, Kraken, or Binance), a web wallet service (such as Metamask, MyCrypto, or MyEtherWallet), a mobile wallet service (such as Coinbase Wallet, Status.im, or Trust Wallet), or a hardware wallet (such as Ledger, Trezor, or KeepKey), you do not need to do anything unless the exchange or wallet service tells you to take additional steps.

• What do I need to do as a node operator or miner?

Download the latest version of the Ethereum client as shown in the table above.

• What happens if I am a miner or node operator and do not participate in the upgrade?

If you are using an Ethereum client that has not been updated to the latest version (listed above), your client will be synced to the pre-fork blockchain after the upgrade occurs. You will continue to follow the old consensus rules, you will be stuck on an incompatible chain, and will not be able to send ETH or operate on the upgraded Ethereum network.