Topic: I think Ethereum will be finished after this attack (Read 15605 times)

http://www.coindesk.com/so-it-looks-like-ethereum-is-going-to-have-to-fork-again/

Déjà vu?

Although there isn't a timeline yet, ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin today suggested that the platform's developers may have to hard fork to once again solve pressing network problems. If pursued, the move would come less than three months after ethereum last executed a hard fork in a controversial bid to return funds to investors in The DAO.

Despite the potential risks (last time, the upgrade didn't go as planned), the new fork seems to have initial support, as it is seen as a way to foil ongoing attacks on the network.

In recent weeks, the ethereum blockchain has been barraged with a series of denial of service attacks, which have slowed transactions and caused nodes to crash. Exchanges like Kraken and ShapeShift have temporarily paused ether trades as a result.

Because of this, developers are looking for a fast fix to the problem, which has acutely impacted clients including geth and Parity, in the form of a hard fork.

Ethcore developer Marek Kotewicz, who works on the Parity client, noted that, a fork increasingly seems like the easiest option to stop the attacks.

He told CoinDesk:

"You know, no one likes hard forks, but that's what I think we need to do."

In the last month, developers of the Go-version ethereum client, Geth, have released six new versions to fix the various denial of service attacks to no avail

But rather than continue to create new releases (the team has averaged one release every three days), the idea behind the hard fork is to resolve the network issues in one swoop.

Uncontroversial but controversial

But it's important to note that this hard fork will likely be different than the one executed in the wake of the failure of The DAO.

As many ethereum developers see it, this hard fork is an uncontroversial change as it will boost security, unlike the last fork. Passed amid heightened drama and discussion, developers argue the most recent fork shifted consensus rules by altering ethereum's immutable ledger, making it unclear whether its smart contracts could be truly "unstoppable".

But since the next fork would bring a security change that developers expect to impact users positively, the feeling is ethereum's community is likely to be less resistant.

"I don't expect much controversy over this one, technical forks are basically just 'updates' for the protocol and this one is obviously necessary," developer Zsolt Felföldi, who works on geth, told CoinDesk.

Not to mention, hard forks are arguably part of ethereum's DNA, as many in its community view the action as a way to upgrade the software in a way that supports its larger goals.

"The ethereum project always stated that it will hard fork often to progress the technology," Heiko Hees, a developer working on ethereum's Raiden Network, explained.

In the eyes of many ethereum developers, this hard fork will look more like the hard fork to update to Homestead, ethereum's latest software release, which went according to a previously announced roadmap.

Felföldi said:

"As Homestead was easily accepted by everyone, I expect the same here."

Why a hard fork?

The attacker has been taking advantage of the way the network prices a function called "gas", which determines the fees used for accessing smart contract processing power on ethereum. Because prices are low, those familiar with the matter said the attacker can cheaply disrupt the network. This is what the developers are trying to fix.

So, while there are many versions of the hard fork in progress, the gist is the same. The fork will seek to raise gas prices to a cost that more accurately incentivizes actions that aren't disruptive to the network. (Some multiply the cost by 10 to 20 times what it was before).

For example, the top version of the hard fork, EIP 150, addresses this.

In the social media post describing the proposed changes, Buterin explained that developers ultimately hoped to adopt a more dynamic gas fee market that can meet the changing demands of the network. But right now, it's too complicated to roll out, and the team wants to push out a quick fix soon as possible to stop network disruptions.

"In the longer term, there certainly are ways that the gas schedule can be made much more flexible," Buterin's post explains.

Outside agreement

Even those in other blockchain communities have argued that a hard fork is the only option.

A developer for ethereum classic, the cryptocurrency that only exists because it continued the ethereum blockchain abandoned in the past hard fork, also argued in favor of the idea.

"With the upcoming Metropolis release, there will undoubtedly be more issues arising, so if they keep making small changes up to the metro release they run the risk of compounded attacks," ethereum classic supporter Vic Arulchandran said.

He agreed a hard fork is the best option to fix the issues "ASAP". (Notably, ethereum classic has been experiencing DoS attacks as well, and may have to consider similar measures).

Elsewhere, Blockstream principal architect Christopher Allen agreed that this is the most likely outcome.

"They’re actually going to have to do a hard fork, with all the risks of a hard fork, to fix their own weight calculation," he told CoinDesk at last week's Scaling Bitcoin conference.

However, some say that there are still risks involved.

Economist and investor Tuur Demeester argued that ethereum could find itself in a situation again where initial support for a proposed hard fork erodes due to unforeseen consequences.

"The hard fork that created ethereum classic caused a lot of animosity and a lot of dissatisfaction in the community," he noted.

On the other hand, his criticism is not directed toward the specifics of the hard fork so much as what he sees as ethereum's attitude toward security and how it has handled problems in the past.

"I would be concerned that it's going to undermine the idea that ethereum is a stable network where people can actually deploy contracts that can sustain real-world business interactions," Demeester said.

Summing up the likely views of many observers, he added:

"I’m curious to see how it plays out."

That's probably exactly the reason why the platform that didn't have anything to do with it, forked over the poorly coded DAO I guess 

And it will be new attacks and Vitalik will make new fork

You are right. The recent DDOS attack showed the developers are quick to respond and new update are released already.

This is funny they are making investors to panic to sell there ethereum sometimes you just need to learn more about things on internet so you will not be foolish by this acitivities , Ethereum is not an easy coin that will be dead after an DDOS attack the engeering of this alt coins is good and they can maintain all attacks

You're wrong and you aren't smart enough to realise that. No one can ever stop people / scammers / programmers trying to build dapps, like the DAO, so there will be more poorly coded dapps / projects and that alone doesn't have anything to do with the platform itself. That's like blaming the forum for the low quality of it's posters like yourself. Yes they could moderate it, because it's centralized, but ethereum platform can't "moderate" the dapps / projects. Either way, that doesn't dwarf the potential and technologigal achievement of this disruptive technology.

Gambling and waiting for a greater fool to buy them at a higher price.

The best thing that can happen to ETH is that no DAPPS of any significance ever see the daylight, because as they will be full of exploits, that would harm the dream that "one day" ETH will be the basis of smart contracts.  As long as the dream is sustained, there's hope to find greater fools.

I see the price of ETH going up, and people buying it,
but what are they actually doing with it?
Are there any sites/ services that actually accept payment in ETH?
I haven't seen anyone take payment except for Bitcoin and some Monero.

With each passing day it's becoming more and more clearer that ETH is the new BTC. And at the current low price you'd be crazy not to pick up a few coins.

it is definitely not going to go down in the future, i think it is going to remain like that because there are a lot of believers

Both have drifted equally into obscurity from what i see.

Why ?

It's predictable.. the scene is made of profiteers.. not bag-holders like you Minecache.
And since that is indisputable that means they will forever jump from coin to coin.
Constantly trying to stay ahead of the curve.. for profits.

It is the way of Crypto-Life !

"Re: I think Ethereum will be finished after this attack"
Ya.. pretty much.
All the bad news swirling around it has damaged an already bad ICO scheme.
Look around.. no one really cares.

No one ever did either.

The only reason it got a any attention was because some whales pumped it hard
which lured in the dregs of crypto-society hoping to make a buck of the pumper.
When the pumper / manipulation team stopped (leaving some walls up)
The crowd got restless and wandered off as predicted.

It is obvious and it is common sense and all the shitcointalk rabble will not change the facts.
Life goes on..

Want the party to start all over again Minecache ? Then pony up a small fortune and pump the coin's price up.
Other than that enjoy loitering around here shilling and talking up Ethereum.
Just don't expect the majority to come running back to ETH.
What reason would they have to do so ?
I already told you they only care about profits.
And actions speak louder than words.

People were hearing "talk" about Ethereum since 2014 on places such as Coindesk who shilled hard for it.
But you will all notice that nothing happened until the manipulation team went into over drive orchestrating the worlds biggest hype / spam / pump campaign we ever seen !
Before that Crypto gove 0 fucks !

Its still too huge too fail. ETH had already gained supporters that sets up walls so this isn't going down. it would take a thousands of hacks before they will give up. I still bet for this coin to compete bitcoin on the same level.

You are maybe pertaining to the community of the main rival of ETH.

This has been said on June 17, 2016. After that attack ETH survived a few more , and looks like its just getting stronger and better ) Some group of ppl just want to destroy ETH , and they are trying that to hard

until now ethereum still good coin, the price incraese
and big community ethereum still use and trading with ethereum
volume transaction still high number two after bitcoin

very much so. The ETC Criminal Coin is dying while ETH original Ethereum is flying.

It seems this thread has backfired on ETC not on ETH.

So finished , eh?!

iTs probably ETC douchebags, as ETC has not seen any of this kind of attacks and it would be more vulnerable as it has not way near the support ETH has


kiss it goodbye ETC suckers

Ethereum-ETH is far from finished. Quite the contrary. The attacks on it are the ultimate signs of jealousy for a coin and an entire technology that will be everywhere all the time and growing in leaps and bounds for the unforseeable future. You can count on it. The attacks are compliments in disguise. I am sorry, but I am right on this.

Probably $20 on the upside. Some exciting news coming out this week. Gud buying opportunity.