ETH Blockchain Splits as Software Bug Affects More Than Half the Network
2 min read
A bug on the ETH blockchain’s most popular software client, Geth, has created a fork in the network. This means that the ETH blockchain is currently processing two chains simultaneously, which—if unresolved—could potentially cause a double-spend attack.
A double-spend attack means that the same single cryptocurrency is spent twice, essentially turning a cryptocurrency into a counterfeit, inflating the asset and lowering its value.
The bug in question is only present in older versions of the client, or those that came before the Geth v1.10.8 update. The update is also called “Hades Gamma.”
ETH developers previously disclosed this bug on August 18.
PSA: On Tuesday Aug 24th, Geth will issue a hotfix to a high severity security issue. Please make any necessary preparations to upgrade to the upcoming release (v.1.10.8). #ETH #geth
— Go ETH (@go_ethereum) August 18, 2021
An ETH client is a piece of software that users can download to verify transactions on the network. This software is used to run nodes, and the more nodes a network has, the more decentralized it is. The BTC network has the most nodes at 11,858, according to Bitnodes.
At the moment, there are 5,289 ETH nodes. Of that sum, the Geth client is the most popular software at 3,947 users.
With 74% of the ETH network using the Geth client, and 73% of those users (2,858) using older versions of the Geth client, today’s bug has raised alarm bells among many in the crypto community. More than half of all nodes on ETH are affected by this bug.
While the bug was identified last week, and the Hades Gamma update was made available starting Tuesday, today’s chain split indicates that many users had yet to update their clients.
The developer team behind the client, Go ETH, announced today that “the issue was resolved in the v1.10.8 release announced previously.” They again urged those using older clients to update.
A chain split has occurred on the ETH mainnet. The issue was resolved in the v1.10.8 release announced previously. Please update your nodes, if you haven't already!
— Go ETH (@go_ethereum) August 27, 2021
Not the first ETH split
The ETH network has suffered similar forks in the past.
In April, the second-largest ETH client, Open ETH, suffered a bug in which the clients were not syncing with the network. This meant that nodes running this client were unable to use the blockchain until the error was fixed.
ETH forked again in November 2020 as users of Geth again failed to update their nodes following a key update. In each of these prior instances of a chain split resulting from software clients failing to update in time, the issue was resolved once users successfully updated their software.
Meanwhile, the price of ETH appears unaffected by today’s controversy.
The cryptocurrency is up 3.7% over the past 24 hours and is currently trading hands at $3,243, according to CoinGecko.
