Ethereum to perform Constantinople/St. Petersburg upgrades
Ethereum to perform two major network upgrades. Source: shutterstock.com
The Ethereum network will be undergoing a scheduled upgrade at block number 7,280,000, which is predicted to occur on February 28, 2019. The exact date is subject to change depending on block times between now and then and could be activated 1-2 days before or after.
A network upgrade is a change to the underlying Ethereum protocol, creating new rules to improve the system. The decentralized nature of blockchain systems makes a network upgrade more difficult. Network upgrades in a blockchain require cooperation and communication with the community, as well as with the developers of the various Ethereum clients in order for the transition to go smoothly.
Constantinople and St. Petersburg are the names given to this network upgrade. The reason that this network upgrade has two names is that the original Constantinople network upgrade was postponed and two protocol upgrades will need to occur on the same block number in order to fix issues on various Ethereum test networks, such as Ropsten.
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 you are informed to take additional steps by your exchange or wallet service.
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