There was a critical error in the Ethereum network

A major reorganization of blocks in the altcoin network may have caused the blockchain to branch out

The Ethereum network had a major error that affects about 54% of the network nodes, writes The Block. According to the publication, the error was detected in old versions (v1.10.7 and below) of the Ethereum Geth network client. Nodes that were using older versions of the client were separating from the main Ethereum network.

Ethereum developers were notified of the consequences of the error back on August 24. They were alerted to this by Sentnl auditor Guido Vranken, who was inspecting the Ethereum virtual machine. The altcoin developers have since released an update that fixes the bug, but nodes must update their software to do so. Until then, they recommended refraining from conducting transactions.

The update avoided a major branching of the blockchain. An altcoin developer said on Twitter that most miners had updated their nodes, so the critical error did not result in a blockchain branching. Nodes that have not updated their software no longer have access to the main Ethereum network.

On August 5, the network released an update to London that completely changed the mechanism for charging commissions for transactions. Some of the commissions that miners used to receive as rewards are now burned off.

Since the update was activated, more than 109,500 Ethereums worth $353.5 million have been burned on the altcoin network, according to ultrasound.money, a service that tracks coin destruction on the altcoin network. The average burn rate per minute is 3.44 Ethereums.