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Key Takeaways
- Ethereum developers postponed the Constantinople hard fork after bugs were found during testnet work.
- The upgrade had been expected in November 2018, but developers later shifted the target to January or February 2019.
- Constantinople was still expected to include planned network changes, including a reduction in Ether block rewards.
Ethereum developers delayed the Constantinople hard fork until 2019 after bugs were found during testnet preparations. The upgrade had been expected later in 2018, but developers decided not to move ahead before further investigation.
Developers Delayed Constantinople After Testnet Issues
Constantinople was expected to be Ethereum’s next major network upgrade. The hard fork had been planned for November 2018, but developers postponed the launch after several issues appeared during testing.
Ethereum developer Afri Schoedon said on October 13, 2018, that the upgrade would not go live that year. He wrote in an X post:
“No constantinople in 2018, we have to investigate.”
Team Said the Upgrade Should Not Be Rushed
Developers discussed the delay during a live-streamed meeting after the test net problems were found. The group agreed that pushing the upgrade into production before the issues were fully understood would add unnecessary risk. Schoeden said during the meeting:
“I keep getting the feeling that we’re trying to rush this and I would second that we should breathe and see what happens.”
Developers later began looking at January or February 2019 as the next possible launch window. The decision did not cancel Constantinople. It delayed the rollout, so developers could review the bugs and avoid introducing difficulties into the live Ethereum network.
Constantinople Still Included Planned Network Changes
Constantinople was designed to introduce various changes to Ethereum’s network rules. Because those changes were not backward-compatible with older software, they required a hard fork.
The planned upgrade included a reduction in Ether block rewards by 33%. It was also expected to prepare Ethereum for future changes to its consensus mechanism, although the delay meant those updates would arrive later than first planned.
A hard fork creates a new version of a blockchain that follows updated software rules. Nodes that do not upgrade remain on the older rules, which is why timing and coordination matter for major protocol changes.
Delay Gave Developers More Time to Review the Code
The postponement allowed Ethereum developers more time to investigate the test net bugs before setting a final activation date. At the time, the exact launch date remained unresolved.
The confirmed update was straightforward: Constantinople would not launch in 2018, and developers were aiming for a safer rollout in early 2019. The delay kept the planned upgrade alive while giving the team more room to resolve issues before main net activation.
