Hello everyone,
I've seen a lot of misconception and misinformation about our blockchain update, including concepts like soft-fork/hard-fork and the ETNX coin; so I decided to make this post to clarify things a bit. Keep in mind that this post is not an official statement, but rather a clarification on the topics I feel people usually get confused.
Firstly, let's recap what is a blockchain soft-fork and hard-fork.
Blockchain Hard-Fork: Is a radical change to the protocol that makes previously invalid blocks/transactions valid (or vice-versa). A hard fork is a permanent divergence from the previous version of the blockchain, and nodes running previous versions will no longer be accepted by the newest version. (source: Investopedia)
Blockchain Soft-Fork: Is a change to the software protocol where only previously valid blocks/transactions are made invalid. Since old nodes will recognize the new blocks as valid, a softfork is backward-compatible. This kind of fork requires only a majority of the miners upgrading to enforce the new rules, as opposed to a hard fork which requires all nodes to upgrade and agree on the new version. (source: Investopedia)
Considering the hard-fork and soft-fork definition above, Electroneum blockchain update (May 30th) is a hard fork. Meaning we're introducing significant changes to the protocol that we consider ideal for Electroneum's long term goals, while diverging from Monero code base. More technical information about the blockchain update and reason behind the changes can be found in Electroneum Official Blog page.
How should you prepare for the update:
For wallet-cli (simplewallet/desktop wallet) users: make sure you are running the updated wallet (binaries yet to be released) for sending transactions after May 30th. You don't need to sync the blockchain from scratch, just update the binaries.
For pool owners and exchanges: make sure to update your node before the fork date (May 30th). Exchanges will be communicated directly by our staff to address this update.
If you're using our online wallet (including ETN App wallet): not action is needed.
If you have ETN in an Exchange: no action is needed.
If you have ETN in an offline wallet: no action is needed.
An official note regarding this update should be released in upcoming weeks.
I've also seen some buzz around Electronero hard-fork. So, I will try to clarify things a bit here.
What is Electronero (ETNX)?
Electronero is a community fork and it's not made by Electroneum team. ETNX is a new coin based on Electroneum source code and blockchain. Since our blockchain code is open-source, everyone can fork our code and create their own coin which is great! This process is known as project fork.
Project Fork: Happens when developers take a copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct and separate piece of software. (source: Wikipedia))
Besides the project fork, ETNX is also forking Electroneum's blockchain but including different features/changes that ETNX team thinks is appropriate. Again, ETNX is not made by Electroneum team!
Note: never send your wallet private key to anyone!
I really hope this post clarifies things a bit regarding blockchain forks and ETNX. I might have not covered every point in this post but if you have any further questions, please comment below and I'll be happy to answer you.
Thank you,
Cliqfichzlink