Mainnet Activation for Hardfork-1 

Iron Fish is preparing for its first hardfork. The first hardfork will include:

• FIP-2 : Enforce sequential block time (a block’s timestamp has to be greater than the timestamp of its parent)
• FIP-3 : Switch hashing algorithm from blake3 to FishHash
• FIP-8 : Difficulty adjustment (to accommodate the algorithm change)
• FIP-9 : Swap randomness and graffiti field positions in the Block Header

The most notable change is the hashing algorithm switch from blake3 to FishHash. To read more about FishHash, the motivation behind finding a new hashing algorithm for Iron Fish, as well as exploration of other algorithm choices, please see FIP-3 (or community created video walkthroughs like this one).

The timeline for the mainnet hardfork is as follows:

If you’re an Iron Fish user, developer, wallet provider, miner, exchange, or anyone in between, please make sure to upgrade your Iron Fish Node to version 2.0.0 (or greater if available) by no later than April 2nd to ensure a smooth transition for all Iron Fish users. If you’ve used npm previously to install Iron Fish node you can upgrade by simply running the same command again: npm install -g ironfish.

If you’re using the Node App, please make sure to upgrade it as well to version 3.0 (or greater if available).

What you need to know if you’re a miner 

At block 503,338 (~April 2nd) miners will need to manually switch their devices to start mining FishHash instead of blake3. Your mining pool should already be compatible with the change. All major mining software developers are planning on releasing new versions that include a FishHash miner. Be on the lookout for a new release of your mining software that includes FishHash which should be available at least a week before the hardfork.

What you need to know if you’re a mining pool 

You need to upgrade your Iron Fish node as soon as possible to version 2.0.0. Some notable changes for pools:

• FIP-2 : If your pool creates blocks with negative timestamps those will no longer be valid after the hardfork
• FIP-3 : The obvious switch of the mining algorithm from blake3 to FishHash
• FIP-9 : randomness and graffiti field positions are switched in the Block Header

All these changes are included in the Node v2.0.0 release but if you have customized your node make sure that those changes are still compatible

If you’re a mining software developer 

If you're a mining software developer and interested in supporting Iron Fish, please see resources below:

• FishHash definition, specs, and CPU implementation (in C++ and Rust)
• GPU reference implementation
• Instructions to run your own local Iron Fish network with a local mining pool for testing

What you need to know if you’re an exchange 

You need to upgrade your Iron Fish node as soon as possible to version 2.0.0 (or greater if available), and by no later than April 2nd.

We recommend being extra cautious of processing transactions on the Iron Fish network during the hardfork activation (estimated April 2nd, 12:00 GMT).

If you any questions, please reach out via Telegram or Discord.

What you need to know if you’re a user 

If you are running a node or using the CLI wallet, please upgrade your Iron Fish node as soon as possible to version 2.0.0 (or greater if available).

If you are using the Node App, please upgrade to version 3.0 (or greater if available) using the official download page.

Your wallet and balances are not affected by the hardfork.

Thank you everyone, and thank you in advance for all your help in ensuring a smooth hardfork transition 🙌

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