Byzantium Fork
The Byzantium fork is a hard-fork of the Ethereum blockchain that took place on October 16th, 2017. It was part of the ongoing Metropolis upgrade which aims to prepare Ethereum for its transition to full Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus.
What is a Hard Fork?
A hard fork occurs when there is a change in the protocol software used by miners and network nodes which results in changes to the underlying rules governing how transactions are processed and validated on a blockchain network. This means that nodes running different versions of the software will no longer be able to communicate with each other as they will not recognize each others’ updated blocks or transactions. In order for everyone to remain in sync, all users must update their node software before any new blocks can be added onto the chain.
Why Did Byzantium Happen?
Ethereum’s goal has always been to become an efficient platform for decentralized applications (dApps). The aim of this particular hard fork was to help improve scalability, security and privacy within dApps built on top of it, as well as introducing new features such as ‘replay protection’ and ‘state channels’ which allow faster transaction processing times than previously possible on Ethereum’s mainnet. Furthermore, it also included various code improvements such as increased gas limits per block from 2 million gas per block up to 8 million gas per block.
In addition, this latest version of Ethereum also introduces support for zkSnarks – zero knowledge proofs – allowing more secure smart contracts while still preserving data privacy between two parties who transact using them; something known as ‘zero knowledge cryptography’. These zkSnark proof systems are used extensively in modern day encryption protocols such as those employed by cryptocurrencies like Zcash (ZEC). Finally, this iteration also adds native support for Verified Contracts – code designed specifically so that developers can create trustless & transparent agreements without having recourse back onto traditional legal structures within their respective jurisdictions should things go wrong with either party involved in said agreement/contracts/transactions etc..
Overall these changes represent significant steps towards making Ethereum into an even better platform upon which future generations may build amazing decentralised applications!
