How to make an upgrade, e.g. Metropolis, Casper etc, at Ethereum? I mean, if someone proposes an upgrade to Ethereum network, how can it be made concrete?


You have to program the code to that will upgrade the client software. This code will start from some block number, say 6,000,000 . Everybody gets ready for this date and buys some champagne to celebrate. When this block is created the fork happens, and the clients of the entire network start working a little bit differently, this difference is described in EIP (Ethereum Improvement Proposal). If you want to change something, create an EIP and submit it.

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  • Thank you for your answer. What happen if somebody does not "update" the software and continue with the old one? – Bruce Wayne Nov 21 '17 at 19:11
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    @BruceWayne it depends. if it is a soft fork, he won't be benefiting from the new changes. If it is a hard fork he won't be able to download the full blockchain. If he is a miner this means he will not be able to mine and will lose money. This will be show as "bad block" error during the download process. – Nulik Nov 21 '17 at 20:36
  • @BruceWayne, what idea of improvement do you have? I have my own private network, maybe we can develop the changes you want to incorporate to Ethereum, on our own network and you will be able to use it – Nulik Nov 21 '17 at 20:41
  • I understand perfectly, thank you also for this answer. I don't have any particular improvement: i'm just studying every details of this technology, for the moment. :) – Bruce Wayne Nov 23 '17 at 9:38

An Ethereum Improvement Proposal is submitted to:


The developers of the primary Ethereum clients discuss the EIPs in open meetings to agree on what they will implement. The meetings are largely technical and occasionally there is an opportunity for community members to present an opinion:


The developers also agree on when the upgrade will take effect, as @Nulik describes. The block number that activates the upgrade will be communicated to the community, and people should update their nodes/clients.

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  • Thank you for your answer. You added an useful information at the previous answer. – Bruce Wayne Nov 23 '17 at 9:41

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