Company Will Be Arriving Soon… The first half of next year will be crucial for the future of the Ethereum Network. First, the Istanbul Hard Fork is scheduled for November. This is anticipated to have huge implications for the network, particularly Ethereum Classic, which will receive EIP-2061 support, as previously stated. Ethereum Classic developer Afri Schoedon recently wrote on EthHub: “The last time a chain split occurred in a big fork, we ended up with ETH and ETC, and both had roughly equal size at that time, and it’s been like that ever since.” “The point I’m making here is that if we do end up with ETH and ETC, both with about equal current marketcap, then I think ETC should become the #2 coin and ETH should disappear,” he added. “Now of course I hope this doesn’t happen, because Ethereum is far more valuable as a platform (and many others are more valuable as applications), but it is a possibility that needs to be prepared for,” he continued. Will ETH/ETC Be Considered One Coin? The other major event in the second half of the year will be The DAO hack. The DAO was a decentralized venture capital fund that was very ambitious, and it was hacked in 2016. Although the Ethereum Foundation was quick to state that there was no loss of funds, many within the community felt differently, and The DAO went through a very stressful period before its eventual resolution. Many of the developers behind The DAO have gone on to create the Ethereum Classic chain. Some believe that the aftermath of The DAO hack caused a split between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic that should not be a split, but instead it should be regarded as a fork. If The DAO hack is not viewed as a fork, then perhaps ETH/ETC will be regarded as one coin? Will Ethereum Be Able To Scale To Keep Up With The ICO? The fact that ETH/ETC may not be split could signal that Ethereum will have solved its scalability problem before scaling. In the last month or so, the network has seen record ICO volume, and ICOs have also started to use ETH to raise funds via ERC-20 tokens. As a result, there has been a surge in demand. For example, Ticketmaster sold 32 million tickets via an Ethereum-based token called TKT on July 4, and it hit a record high $200 on Bitfinex, one of the world’s largest exchanges for ETH and ERC-20 tokens. Ethereum has been touted as a scalable platform for years, but the network continues to struggle to scale. Although the Ethereum Network is often associated with DApps, as things stand right now Ethereum has few of these, and Ethereum is struggling to keep up with scalability. This has led some to say that Ethereum is not a scalable platform for decentralised applications, which means that it is not likely to become the “internet of finance.” However, as a result of ETH/ETC not being regarded as a split, and more DApps and ICOs coming on board, this may signal that Ethereum will be able to provide the scalability required for future applications. If so, then Ethereum may be able to scale after all. We will keep you updated on this developing story as more information becomes available. Please remember that this is not investment advice. Investors should do their own due diligence before making any financial decisions. Disclosure: I have no ownership in any cryptocurrency mentioned in this article and it was not created to provide any investment advice. The post Ethereum (ETH) Hard Fork Could Change The Cryptocurrency World Forever appeared first on Ethereum World News. Crypto Is Coming!