Ethereum's hard fork Istanbul may be postponed due to Parity developers delays

Istanbul implementation may be delayed as Parity developers need more time.
The hard fork will contain critical network updates.

Tanya Abrosimova Independent Analyst

The scheduled Ethereum hard fork Istanbul can be postponed as Parity's developer team is not ready to deploy critical upgrades to the test network Ropsten on time.
Istanbul shall be activated on the test network before the update is launched on the mainnet.

However, Parity's developer Wei Tang believes that the team needs more time to fulfill the tasks.

“We need time till September 6 to finish the implementation. Not only because we accepted EIPs late but right now we just happened to be a large code base refactoring and we probably want to merge them first before merging Istanbul EIP,” he explained.

A testnet block number was supposed to be picked on the last Friday call, on August 23. However, it did not happen due to Parity. The team needs to finish their work before a testnet number is picked.

The mainnet hardfork was scheduled for October 4th, just before before the Devcon5 conference in Osaka, but now it might be postponed until November depending on Parity's progress and testnet deployment results.

Currently, about 21% of nodes within the Ethereum network use Parity client. Geth is supposed to be the most popular client as it is used by 76% of nodes. Notably, Geth developers have already implemented all the required updates.

Earlier in August Ethereum developers approved the final details of the upcoming Istanbul hard fork. It will be activated in two steps. The first step was supposed to happen in October and include all six updates (EIPs).

The second step will take place in the first quarter of 2020. It will include changes that still require more work and testing, like new ProgPoW mining algorithm.

Author

Tanya Abrosimova

Independent Analyst

Markets move fast. We move first.

Orange Juice Newsletter brings you expert driven insights - not headlines. Every day on your inbox.

Editor's Picks

Crypto market outlook for 2026

Year 2025 was volatile, as crypto often is. Among positive catalysts were favourable regulatory changes in the U.S., rise of Digital Asset Treasuries (DAT), adoption of AI and tokenization of Real-World-Assets (RWA).

Sberbank issues Russia's first corporate loan backed by Bitcoin

Russia's largest bank Sberbank launched the country's first Bitcoin-backed corporate loan to miner Intelion Data. The pilot deal uses cryptocurrency as collateral through Sberbank's proprietary Rutoken custody solution.

Bitcoin recovers to $87,000 as retail optimism offsets steady ETF outflows

Bitcoin (BTC) trades above $88,000 at press time on Tuesday, following a rejection at $90,000 the previous day. Institutional support remains mixed amid steady outflow from US spot BTC Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Strategy Inc.’s acquisition of 1,229 BTC last week.