Ethereum’s much anticipated hard fork dubbed Istanbul was completed at block 9,069,000. The upgrade bolsters the Ethereum network closer to greater scalability and is a bullish sign for the second biggest cryptocurrency. The hard fork unfolded a series of months and was completed on Sunday, reflecting changes to the Ethereum network’s protocol and resulting in new rules for how transactions are validated on the blockchain.

Istanbul was comprised of half-a-dozen separate upgrades, bringing with them major changes. Among them, the Ethereum network is now more closely aligned with privacy coin Zcash alongside a host of other changes, not the least of which includes a stronger, more resilient network and improved overall performance.

Istanbul is one of multiple hard forks expected in the near future as the network inches closer toward Serenity, or Ethereum 2.0, and adopting a highly anticipated proof-of-stake consensus algorithm. Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin once stated:

“Ethereum 1.0 is a couple of peoples’ scrappy attempt to build the world computer; Ethereum 2.0 will actually be the world computer.”

Crypto analysts expect that the Istanbul upgrade could be bullish for the Ethereum price. In the next six months, which incidentally coincides closely with the bitcoin halving event, the ETH price could recover some of the brutal losses it’s suffered over roughly the past couple of years. Analyst CryptoWolf on Twitter, who boasts nearly 19,000 followers, outlined a scenario in which the ETH price reclaims the $423 level by June 2020.

Crypto trader Crypto Michaël, who has more than 45,000 Twitter followers, expects the worst is over for the ETH price. He compared “recent Ethereum FUD” to the “Binance USA ban,” saying: ‘

“People expected further downside on altcoins after the USA ban, while they mostly found bottom in September. Looks similar with ETH in which I don’t expect much more downside.” 

Not everyone is satisfied with the state of the Ethereum network. Developer Nina Breznik complained on Twitter that the Ethereum Foundation has decided to cut off funding to her project. Overall, however, the stars appear to be finally aligning for the Ethereum network.

For instance, Ethereum’s gain on the heels of the Istanbul upgrade could be EOS’ pain, after the latter blockchain suffered a ratings downgrade. Weiss Crypto Ratings launched a Twitter thread in which it criticized the EOS project for a host of reasons, ultimately culminating in its decision to downgrade the cryptocurrency, saying:

“We’ve had great respect for work and thinking that went into the EOS project. But the Weiss Crypto Ratings model is not based on opinion. It’s driven by data. And that data has now caused a downgrade from B to C-.” 

Weiss ratings pointed to the following reasons for the EOS downgrade:

• “Failure to decentralize”
• “Misallocation of resources”
• “The issue of CPU, REX and the clogged network”

Ethereum Istanbul Upgrade – Now What?

Unless otherwise directed, Ethereum users on exchanges such as Coinbase or Binance or wallets such as MetaMask or MyEtherWallet don’t need to do anything to be compliant with the most recent upgrade. Ethereum miners and node operators, however, should “download the latest version of your Ethereum client in order to run Istanbul on Rinkeby, Goerli and Ropsten,” according to the announcement. Developers might similarly need to upgrade to continue building on the upgraded network.

Istanbul is Ethereum’s eighth network upgrade, the most recent of which (before Istanbul) was Constantinople.