Share this article

Ethereum Core Developers Eye Mid-April for 'Berlin' Hard Fork

The hard fork will facilitate live swapping Ethereum from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake blockchain.

Updated Sep 14, 2021, 12:14 p.m. Published Feb 19, 2021, 4:42 p.m.
It looks as if Ethereum may reach Berlin in April.
It looks as if Ethereum may reach Berlin in April.

Ethereum developers have scheduled the Berlin hard fork for April 14 at block height 12,244,000, according to the Ethereum All Core Developers meeting Friday.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the The Protocol Newsletter today. See all newsletters

The hardfork includes various optimizations for contracts including gas efficiencies, updates to how code is read by the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and other changes to protect against denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks.

The Berlin hard fork was originally scheduled for June or July 2020, but was pushed back mainly due to centralization concerns around the Geth client on which most Ethereum nodes run. Moreover, developers working on the current base layer blockchain, often called Eth 1.x, have expressed strain from maintaining the client.

Read more: Ethereum Developers Delay Berlin Hard Fork to Stem Client Centralization Concerns

The Berlin hard fork has been preceded by multiple testnets. The update, which includes at least five Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP), will be shipped on four test networks before deployment as well.

Correction (Feb. 19, 17:45 UTC): A previous version of this article stated Berlin included an EIP necessary for the Ethereum 2.0 merge. However, that EIP is not currently slated for inclusion.

More For You

Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

GP Basic Image

What to know:

  • As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
  • GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
  • Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.

Meer voor jou

Stripe-Backed Blockchain Tempo Starts Testnet; Kalshi, Mastercard, UBS Added as Partners

Art installation reminiscent of digital ecosystems

Tempo, built by Stripe and Paradigm, has started testing payment-focused blockchain and has onboard a slew of institutional partners.

Wat u moet weten:

  • Stripe and Paradigm’s Tempo blockchain has launched its public testnet for real-world payment testing.
  • Kalshi, Klarna, Mastercard and UBS are among a wave of new institutional partners now involved in the project.
  • Tempo aims to offer low-cost, fast-settlement infrastructure for global payments as stablecoin adoption is accelerating globally.