• Ethereum developers announced that the next upgrade Altair for the 27th of October.
• Ethereum is gradually rebounding after crashing amid China crackdown.

It appears the unveiling of ETH 2.0 is right behind the corner with confirmation that the next upgrade, Altair, is happening in less than a month. The Ethereum network has undergone a number of upgrades in preparation for the blockchain’s transition to proof-of-stake (PoS). Ethereum developers have confirmed that the Altair is now scheduled to take place on the 27th of October.

Ethereum announced Altair upgrade ahead of ETH 2.0

With ETH 2.0, the Ethereum network will fully fulfil its mission to be an efficient, universal, and global-scale platform. Also, the network will continue to retail crypto-economic security and decentralization. Part of the process in the transition is the first mainnet to the Beacon Chain, Altair, scheduled to take place at epoch 74240. The Beacon Chain was developed to be compatible with the upgraded consensus. 

Also, the upgrade will support the Ethereum blockchain by advancing the “punitive parameters” to ensure economic security. The Ethereum developers stated the requirements for PoS blockchains to be economically secure. According to the developers, there is a need for penalties to incentivize validator liveness. In addition, the developers mentioned the provision of security in the case of tail-risk scenarios. The penalties suggested are “inactive leak” and “slashing” under the Ethereum Improvement Protocol (EIP). 

The Ethereum team will be sharing more information on the Altair release on the 4th of October. 

Notably, there was a market crash that affected cryptocurrencies after China reinforced its ban policy on digital assets in the country. However, Ethereum has managed to gather gains since then and is gradually rebounding. Currently, Ethereum is trading at $2,922. In the last 24 hours, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap has lost 18 percent and about 4.5 percent in its trading volume. 

China shuts down over 10,000 Ethereum mining rigs

As China continues its opposition against Ethereum, the Chinese authorities have shut down more than 10,000 mining rigs. The action was carried out by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) at a retail park in Inner Mongolia. 

Read More: Chinese authorities seize over 10,000 Ethereum mining rigs in Mongolia

Reports showed that the Commission received a tip-off on a crypto minion operation in the park. Interestingly, the NDRC eventually confiscated 10,100 mining rigs. Hence, the Commission said it would keep an eye on energy usage levels to nab illegal mining farms. The power consumption of the raided farm was consuming was about 1,104kW/h. 

Amid the China crackdown, the second-largest Ethereum mining pool globally, Sparkpool, is suspending its operation in the region. Shark pool has released an official announcement that new users in mainland China will no longer have access to the mining pool. 

The entire crackdown process on Ethereum is discouraging to investors and has affected the value of the cryptocurrency.