Share this article
Ethereum Network Draws Developer Ire After Scheduling New Year's Day Upgrade
The organization behind ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, is drawing criticism from developers after scheduling an upgrade on New Year's Day – a work holiday in most countries.
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 11:52 a.m. Published Dec 23, 2019, 6:03 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
The organization behind ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, is drawing criticism from developers after scheduling an upgrade on New Year's Day – a work holiday in most countries.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The Ethereum Foundation on Monday announced the plan to implement the "Muir Glacier" upgrade on Jan. 1. The upgrade will take place when the ethereum network hits its 9.2-millionth block, according to a blog post on the organization's website.
The upgrade would come just less than a month after the network's last upgrade in early December, known as "Istanbul."
According to the blog post, node operators and cryptocurrency miners have to download the latest version of client software to comply with the new terms, rules and procedures stipulated under the upgrade.
The main purpose of the Muir Glacier upgrade is to delay a planned increase in the difficulty of mining new units of cryptocurrency by an estimated 611 days, according to a Dec. 16 post on the blog Ethereum Cat Herders, which is dedicated to community-led project management on the blockchain.
The delay comes amid concerns the so-called "difficulty bomb" would essentially increase the time needed to confirm new blocks of data on the network, resulting in a "degradation in the usability of ethereum due to waiting for confirmation for transactions."
The upgrade was expected, but the move to schedule it for New Year's Day sparked a negative reaction among some network users who had planned to take the day off along with colleagues.
Jorge Izquierdo, CEO of Aragon One, which allows groups of people to form organizations using the ethereum blockchain, tweeted he's "trying hard not to be negative about ethereum lately."
"Now someone from my team has to work on a day that they were free," he wrote.
In a subsequent tweet, Izquierdo wrote that Aragon wouldn't implement the upgrade on his platform's infrastructure until Jan. 2.
According to Ethereum Cat Herders, the latest upgrade was needed "so soon after the last one" because prior estimates of the timing of the difficulty increase proved wrong.
"In order to avoid a delay with the Istanbul upgrade, it has been decided to address the difficulty bomb aka Muir Glacier upgrade as a separate one," according to the post.
Ether, the main cryptocurrency for the ethereum network, was changing hands at $129 on Monday as of 5:26 p.m. universal coordinated time (12:25 p.m. in New York), down 0.7 percent over the prior 24 hours. That was the worst performance among digital assets with a market capitalization of at least $1 billion, according to the data provider Messari.
By contrast, bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, was up 2.3 percent to $7,455.
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest files for two crypto index ETFs tied to CoinDesk 20
One proposed fund will attempt to exactly mimic the CoinDesk 20, but the other would track the index, excluding bitcoin.
What to know:
- ARK Invest has filed with U.S. regulators to launch two cryptocurrency ETFs tracking the CoinDesk 20 index.
- One proposed fund would track the CoinDesk 20, which provides exposure to major tokens, including bitcoin, ether, solana, XRP, and cardano. The other would track the same index, but exclude bitcoin, by pairing long index futures with short bitcoin futures.
- The funds, which would list on NYSE Arca if approved, aim to offer diversified crypto exposure without direct token custody and follow similar, still-unapproved crypto index ETF proposals from WisdomTree and ProShares.
Top Stories
