Contention of Phoenix (new) Consensus fork supplementary Type Contention Fork Phoenix (new) Ethereum family

During the final review period of the hard fork, Phoenix (new) has received several criticism, resulting in some Ethereum Classic users strongly opposing it. This document is to record the issue and present arguments from both sides of the contention. The primary goal is to try and see if the issues of this contentious hard fork can be resolved. If not, we hope this can act as a guide for users to decide which side they want to be on.

OpenEthereum and MultiGeth support both sides of the hard fork. The flag for running pro-Phoenix-fork side remains the same as before. For non-fork side, OpenEthereum supports it through the --chain classic-oppose-phoenix-fork flag, and MultiGeth supports it through flag --oppose-phoenix-fork .

The main argument from pro-Phoenix hard fork side is that the hard fork has received "rough consensus", and as a result, any divergence of the hard fork can result in chain splits, which is bad for Ethereum Classic community.

Argument Phoenix hard fork has received "rough consensus". [1] Objection The hard fork should be marked as contested. Some core developers have clearly expressed the understanding that some groups do not agree with the way everything has been handled. [2] Objection Even according to ECIP guidelines [3] , rough consensus requires that a specification not have any "unaddressed substantiated objections". With several unaddressed issues and potential design flaws, Phoenix does not satisfy the criteria.

Phoenix hard fork has received "rough consensus". Argument Non-fork side is "coordinated social attack". Opposing the hard fork can result in chain split.

The non-fork side mainly argues that Phoenix hard fork breaks Ethereum Classic principles of immutability and code-is-law, and has several unaddressed issues which may cripple the chain in the future.