Summary:
- Chainlink has declared its stance regarding the upcoming Ethereum PoS transition and possible network hard forks.
- The oracle network supports Ethereum’s upgrade to a Proof-of-Stake consensus.
- Forked versions of ETH’s Proof-of-Work blockchain will not be supported by the protocol.
- The news comes as speculations regarding a hard fork have emerged in recent weeks leading up to The Merge.
- One major ETH miner Chandler Guo is said to move towards a hard fork in a bid to sustain a PoW ecosystem.
- Crypto exchange OKX said they plan to monitor any forks and list forked tokens if they boast sufficient demand.
- Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin surmised that another ETH fork shouldn’t threaten the post-merge network.
Ethereum-based protocol Chainlink released an update on Monday clarifying its stance and decision to not support possible hard forks as the Merge, ETH’s pivotal switch to a Proof-of-Stake consensus draws closer.
The protocol has made it clear that the network plans to maintain operations on ETH’s network during and after the Merge takes place later in September.
Chainlink’s mainnet launched fully in May 2019 as a decentralized network built on the Ethereum blockchain. The network powers the transfer of data from off-chain sources to on-chain channels by leveraging custom smart contracts known as oracles.
While Chainlink has made it clear that the oracle network stands with the merge, similar support does not extend to possible hard forks, per Monday’s announcement.
Users should be aware that forked versions of the Ethereum blockchain, including PoW forks, will not be supported by the Chainlink protocol.
ETH’s watershed transition to PoS has seemingly garnered both support and opposition within the crypto community. A major ETH miner Chandler Guo supposedly aims to go ahead with a hard fork of Ethereum’s Proof-of-Work blockchain. The move could potentially sustain an ETH ecosystem built around PoW and miners.
Tron founder Justin Sun pledged 1 million ETH if such an effort proves to be successful. Cryptocurrency exchange OKX has also hinted openness towards hard forked coins and said demand for such tokens could determine if the platform will list them.
Ethereum Founder Says ETHPoW Hard Forks Are Not An Issue
Vitalik Buterin surmised that any possible ETH PoW hard forks shouldn’t pose a threat to the Merge. Buterin shared these remarks over the weekend during an ETH conference in Seoul, South Korea.
Buterin opined that ETH Classic already has an existing community built around PoW and that most of the ETH ecosystem is behind the PoS transition.
