Announcement of imminent hard fork for EIP150 gas cost changes

Ethereum is implementing a hard fork with EIP150 gas cost changes in response to sustained network attacks over recent weeks. The attackers exploited vulnerabilities in client implementations and protocol specifications, prompting this emergency protocol update.

• →Ethereum network has been under sustained attack for several weeks targeting client and protocol vulnerabilities.
• →A hard fork implementing EIP150 gas cost changes is being deployed as an emergency response.
• →Recent patches have improved network resiliency but the hard fork is needed for comprehensive protection.
• →The attacks demonstrated crafty exploitation of previously unknown vulnerabilities in the system.
• →This represents a significant protocol-level response to active network threats.