Ethereum (ETH) is making headlines with its recent announcement that it will be moving its protocol from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS). At the same time, ETH hodlers will be rewarded with no less than three airdrops. We break down the airdrops and take a look at what the move means for ETH.

Introducing Ethereum’s Constantinople

Constantinople will allow ETH protocol to move from PoW to PoS. In other words, it is an update that will bring about a few new opcodes. Opcodes are used in the development of smart contracts, it reduces block rewards and changes the way gas is used.

Learn more about the difference between PoS and PoW by reading Bitmart’s blog “What is the difference between a Masternode and Proof of Stake?”

The only way to activate Constantinople is by means of a fork that is thus far set for 16 January on block 7,080,000. When the hard fork is done, the nodes will run on the new software. This also means that the old legacy nodes will become worthless since they will not be recognized by the blockchain. This hard fork is classified as “non-contentious” which means that the community will adopt the upgrade as they have confidence in it.

What will Constantinople mean for miners?

Constantinople will lead to a reduction of gas and also gas costs and it will also reduce the complexity of common tasks.  In a nutshell, this coincides with Ethereum’s long-term strategy to increase network capacity and decrease the energy consumption of mining.

ETH PoS will basically mean that the server will act as a miner. The wallet is designed to transfer transactions.

Ethereum forks

During January 2019, there will be three Ethereum forks.

11 January – Ethereum Classic Vision Fork (ETCV)

If you hold ETH on this date, you are eligible to receive three ETCV for each Ether in your wallet. Ratio 1:3.

12 January – Ethereum NOWA Fork (ETN)

If you hold ETH on 12 January, you will receive one ETN for every Ether. Ratio 1:1.

16 January – Constantinople Fork

This is said to be the most significant fork of the three since it is such a big component of moving Ethereum from PoW to PoS. The snapshot will take place at block #7,080,000.

Price of Ethereum goes up

In December, the price of ETH was at $82. Since the news of the hard forks, it has steadily increased to about $150 today. Check out Coinmarketcap for the updated ETH price. It is yet to be determined how much higher the price will go leading up to the hard forks. Stay tuned!