The Ethereum Classic network is set to undergo a network upgrade on November 29, according to an announcement by ETC Core developer and Ethereum Classic Labs, the teams behind ETC’s blockchain ecosystem. Dubbed ‘Thanos,’ this hardfork is an Ethereum Classic Improvement Proposal (ECIP 1099) and is part of developing a stable ecosystem that can withstand 51% attacks.

Notably, ETC’s blockchain experienced three 51% attacks over the summer, calling for the need to upgrade its technical fundamentals. Per the estimated timeframe, the Ethereum Classic community's consensus decision to initiate the Thanos hardfork will happen in a week.

Once this milestone is achieved, Ethereum classic stakeholders are optimistic that the network will continue to ‘drive innovations that will support existing miners and attract new ones while maintaining compatibility with Ethereum (ETH).’

While the Thanos hardfork is anticipated to mark a big milestone, Ethereum Classic had already launched some initiatives to counter the 51% attacks. One of these solutions is dubbed Modified Exponential Subjective Scoring (MESS) and goes by the ticker ‘ECIP 1100’. Ideally, this innovation makes it harder for 51% attacks by increasing the costs associated with chain re-organizations.

Ethereum Classic Labs Founder and Chairman, James Wo, commented that,

“After the successful implementation of MESS, the finality algorithm that provides 51% protection, we continue to see Ethereum Classic innovate and grow in a way that distinguishes itself and increases functionality for its users.”

ETC’s Mordor Testnet, which went last month, has already implemented the Thanos upgrade, ahead of the Mainnet activation scheduled for block 11,700,000. This will happen around November 29, although the timeframe might change as the network narrows closer to the activation block (currently at block 11,672,555). Wo was keen to note that Thanos hardfork is the next natural thing after MESS,

“The Thanos hard fork is the natural next step for the network, reducing the DAG size to help cultivate a more distributed and healthy mining ecosystem, increasing hash rate, and allowing for miners to continue mining ETC and for new miners to join the ecosystem.”

Ethereum Classic has since advised its consumers to upgrade their software nodes to fork compatible versions ‘if they have not done so already to Core-geth v1.11.16 or later.’

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