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Network Upgrade

Olympia

Active protocol development for Ethereum Classic: EVM modernization, maintained clients, and funded development through sustainable basefee revenue.

  • Fusaka EVM alignment: full parity with every Ethereum tool, library, and framework
  • EIP-1559 fee market: predictable gas pricing, basefee revenue redirected to protocol treasury
  • Protocol treasury: sustainable funding without new token issuance or miner reward changes
  • Institutional infrastructure: the Proof-of-Work foundation for regulated stablecoin issuance (Classic USD, MiCA and GENIUS Act-compliant), digital commodity classification under the CLARITY Act, and the broadest cross-jurisdictional institutional access profile of any Proof-of-Work smart contract network
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Activation Block: TBD

Block number to be announced on the Olympia Community Developer Calls.

What Olympia Changes

Three client-facing ECIPs that modernize the protocol in a single coordinated upgrade.

ECIP-1111

EIP-1559 Fee Market

The most widely adopted transaction format in the EVM ecosystem, now on Ethereum Classic. Dynamic gas pricing delivers predictable fees. Unlike Ethereum where basefee is burned, ETC redirects it to the protocol treasury. Miner block rewards and tips remain completely untouched.

ECIP-1112

Protocol Treasury

A protocol-controlled vault funded by basefee revenue and voluntary contributions. Institutions, developers, and stakeholders can fund Ethereum Classic core development without fielding their own team. No admin keys, no multisig. Only on-chain governance can release funds.

ECIP-1121

Fusaka EVM Alignment

Building on Mystique and Spiral, Olympia delivers the remaining EVM execution-layer improvements from Dencun, Pectra, and Fusaka: every improvement independent of Proof-of-Stake and blob data availability. Exchanges and wallets gain modern RPC compatibility. Developers gain full access to every current Ethereum tool, library, and framework. One codebase, every EVM chain.

EVM Compatibility in Detail

Three Ethereum upgrade cycles delivered to ETC in a single fork: every execution-layer improvement independent of Proof-of-Stake and blob data availability.

01

Dencun

Cancun-Deneb · 2024

EIP-1153EIP-5656EIP-2935
02

Pectra

Prague-Electra · 2025

EIP-7702EIP-2537EIP-6780
03

Fusaka

Fulu-Osaka · 2025

EIP-7623EIP-7951EIP-7825
Ethereum Classic implemented partial London EIPs in Mystique (2022) and partial Shanghai EIPs in Spiral (2024), deliberately deferring the EIP-1559 fee market for independent governance design.ECIP-1111 now delivers those deferred London EIPs. ECIP-1121 advances the execution layer through Dencun, Pectra, and Fusaka: every EVM improvement that is independent of Proof-of-Stake and blob data availability. Together, Olympia brings ETC to full Fusaka execution-layer parity.

Gas & State Access

EIP-7702EIP-7623EIP-7825EIP-7883EIP-7935

Account delegation, cheaper calldata, gas limit enforcement, opcode repricing, and jumpdest removal. Reduces transaction costs and enables smart account patterns without protocol changes.

EVM Safety

EIP-6780EIP-7934EIP-7910

SELFDESTRUCT restricted to deployment context, stack size enforcement, and call target constraints. Makes contract behavior more predictable and reduces attack surface.

Cryptographic Precompiles

EIP-2537EIP-7951

BLS12-381 pairing operations for ZK-friendly proof verification, P256VERIFY for WebAuthn and passkey authentication. Native cryptographic primitives for privacy and identity.

Execution Context

EIP-5656EIP-2935EIP-1153

MCOPY for efficient memory operations, historical block hashes in state, transient storage TSTORE/TLOAD. Unlocks reentrancy guards, flash loans, and cross-contract patterns without persistent storage.

Explicitly excluded: all blob-dependent EIPs (EIP-4844, EIP-7516, EIP-7691). Ethereum Classic is a pure Layer 1 execution chain with no data availability requirement. Blobs are L2 scaffolding ETC does not need.

Developer Tooling — Works Without Modification

Solidity 0.8.x+

All recent compiler versions produce compatible bytecode for ETC without modification.

Foundry / Hardhat

Standard EVM testing and deployment toolchains work on ETC without ETC-specific forks or patches.

wagmi / viem / ethers.js

Standard wallet libraries and RPC types work on ETC without patching or overrides. One codebase, every EVM chain.

Regulatory Positioning

Global Regulatory Recognition

Ethereum Classic has received formal regulatory classification across four major jurisdictions.

CLARITY Act

Digital Commodity

CFTC · United States

Classified as a digital commodity under CFTC jurisdiction. Proof-of-Work consensus is the defining characteristic for commodity status under US digital asset legislation.

GENIUS Act

Stablecoin Platform

United States

The only Proof-of-Work EVM platform for regulated stablecoin deployment under the GENIUS Act. Positions ETC as the immutable settlement layer for compliant digital dollar infrastructure.

MiCA

Decentralized Asset

European Union

Classified as a decentralized crypto-asset under MiCA, exempt from issuer obligations as a fully decentralized protocol with no central issuer or controlling party.

FSA Green List

Recognized Asset

Japan

Recognized crypto-asset on the FSA Green List via JVCEA. Enables fast-track listing across all Japanese regulated exchanges without additional review requirements.

The Olympia Upgrade

Olympia is Ethereum Classic’s most significant protocol upgrade. Three changes arrive in a single activation: Fusaka EVM alignment, EIP-1559 fee market, and a protocol-managed treasury.

The headline change is full Fusaka EVM parity — closing years of execution-layer divergence from Ethereum in a single fork. Every Solidity compiler version, every deployment tool (Foundry, Hardhat), and every major library (wagmi, viem, ethers.js) works on ETC without modification, patching, or ETC-specific overrides. One codebase deploys to every EVM chain. ETC could not credibly claim this before Olympia. After Olympia, it can.

The EIP-1559 fee market redirects the basefee — value that would otherwise be destroyed — to a protocol-managed treasury. Block rewards and tips remain completely untouched and go entirely to miners. Anyone can submit proposals on-chain. Members vote on resource allocation and execute decisions. Every step is transparent and verifiable on-chain.

How It Works

Funded by basefee revenue, not inflation. Block rewards and tips remain untouched.

Basefee Revenue

Every transaction pays a basefee via EIP-1559. The basefee is directed to the Treasury. Block rewards and tips remain completely untouched. Miners are unaffected.

Protocol Treasury

Protocol-managed vault accumulates basefee revenue, voluntary donations, and mining rewards directed to the treasury address. Real-time monitoring via public dashboard.

On-Chain Governance

On-chain governance via the OpenZeppelin Governor 5.x contract suite. The Olympia DAO handles critical protocol decisions (security maintenance, EVM parity, and client funding) using non-transferable membership NFTs. Futarchy prediction markets open public participation to inform treasury allocation. All on-chain and auditable.

From Proposal to Execution

Five stages from idea to execution. Every step is on-chain, transparent, and auditable.

Propose

Anyone can submit a governance proposal on-chain. Proposals define the action to execute and the supporting rationale.

Vote

Members cast on-chain votes during a defined voting period via the OpenZeppelin Governor 5.x contract suite. Voting is transparent and immutable.

Queue

Approved proposals enter a security timelock. This delay provides the community time to review before execution.

Execute

After the timelock expires, the proposal executes automatically. Treasury transfers happen on-chain with full auditability.

Disclose

All outcomes are publicly reported and independently verifiable. Proposal records form a permanent on-chain record.

Olympia Roadmap

Five stages from consensus upgrades to permanent protocol integration.

Consensus Upgrades

Complete

EIP-1559 fee market, protocol treasury funded by basefee revenue, and full Fusaka EVM parity in a single upgrade. Every Ethereum tool and framework works on ETC without modification.

  • EIP-1559 fee market (ECIP-1111)
  • Protocol treasury funded by basefee (ECIP-1112)
  • Fusaka EVM parity: Dencun, Pectra, Fusaka EIPs (ECIP-1121)

Core Governance

Active

On-chain governance with membership-based voting and a full proposal lifecycle: submit, vote, queue, execute. Core development funding moves to an open, transparent, on-chain process.

  • Governance and treasury contracts with timelock execution
  • Membership-based voting with sanctions compliance
  • Open proposal process with competitive bidding

Prediction Markets

Research

Futarchy-assisted governance uses prediction markets to inform treasury allocation, providing financially-backed public signals alongside on-chain member votes.

  • Conditional outcome tokens
  • Market-informed proposal ranking
  • Open participation for any stakeholder

Treasury Distribution

Future

Governance-controlled smoothing curve (ECIP-1115) optionally supplements miner security budgets as fixed-emission block subsidies decline, without touching consensus-layer rewards.

  • Treasury smoothing algorithm (ECIP-1115)
  • Modeling through ECIP-1017 emission events
  • Parameters adjustable without a hard fork

Protocol Integration

Future

Proven governance mechanisms elevated from the contract layer to consensus, making treasury rules immutable at the protocol level.

  • Consensus-level governance encoding
  • Immutable treasury rules

Coordinating Organizations

Coordinating organizations working together to govern and advance the Ethereum Classic network.

Ethereum Classic

Network Protocol

The largest Proof-of-Work smart contract platform. Coordinating network upgrades to maintain EVM parity and modern tooling.

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Olympia Treasury

Protocol-Funded Treasury

Basefee revenue creates sustainable protocol funding. Real-time treasury monitoring via public dashboard.

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Olympia DAO

On-Chain Governance

Olympia DAO membership NFTs for critical protocol decisions, futarchy prediction markets for public participation. All on-chain on Ethereum Classic.

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Ethereum Classic DAO LLC

Legal Entity

The legal wrapper for the Olympia DAO under Wyoming's DAO LLC framework. Ensures regulatory compliance, proper reporting, and alignment with digital asset legislation.

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Olympia Upgrade

Frequently Asked Questions

Olympia is coordinated by the same developers, organizations, and community stewards who have delivered every Ethereum Classic network upgrade since 2016: Gotham, Die Hard, Defuse Difficulty Bomb, Thanos, and the full EVM compatibility series spanning Gas Reprice, Atlantis, Agharta, Phoenix, Magneto, Mystique, and Spiral. The ETC Cooperative, a US 501(c)(3) non-profit, funds Ethereum Classic's client development teams and has managed the hard fork coordination process throughout that history. Stakeholder outreach, client release sequencing, and cross-client testing are all established practice. Olympia is a significant upgrade carried forward by a team with a clean delivery record across a decade of ETC network upgrades.
The ETC Cooperative is a US 501(c)(3) non-profit that has funded Ethereum Classic's core client development for years, contributing millions of dollars to the network's client teams and infrastructure through every upgrade cycle. Every hard fork, every client release, and every cross-client coordination effort has been backed by their balance sheet. Olympia is what they were building toward: a protocol-native funding model that does not depend on any single organization's continued generosity. The Olympia Treasury, governed on-chain by the Olympia DAO and executed by the Wyoming DAO LLC, extends beyond institutional dependency with a durable financial foundation that scales with network usage. The model changes, not the commitment. The ETC Cooperative continues as an active steward, and any developer, mining operation, hardware manufacturer, or individual worldwide can now contribute directly on-chain without fielding a team or managing a non-profit to do it.
Grayscale launched the Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust (ETCG) in 2018, years before Bitcoin ETFs existed as a product category, and became a major institutional donor to the ETC Cooperative, indirectly funding the network's core client development at a time when no other investment product issuer was doing anything comparable. What Grayscale was practicing on Ethereum Classic in 2018 is now a recognized trend: ETF issuers funding protocol development, corporate treasury strategies reinvesting in network ecosystems. Taking that model on-chain is only possible on Ethereum Classic because ETC is the only Proof-of-Work blockchain with native smart contracts. Olympia DAO makes it permissionless, opening a direct on-chain contribution path to every holder, whether through ETCG, a direct wallet, or any future investment product.
ECIP-1121 closes years of EVM divergence in a single upgrade, delivering every execution-layer improvement from Dencun, Pectra, and Fusaka that is independent of Proof-of-Stake and blob data availability. Before Olympia, ETC lagged behind on these EIPs, creating real friction for developers deploying across EVM chains. After Olympia, Solidity 0.8.x, Foundry, Hardhat, wagmi, viem, and ethers.js all work on ETC without modification, patching, or ETC-specific overrides. One codebase deploys to every EVM chain. ETC could not credibly claim full tooling compatibility before Olympia. After Olympia, it can.
The Olympia Treasury is funded by EIP-1559 basefee revenue, voluntary on-chain donations, and mining rewards directed to the treasury address. Block rewards and tips remain completely untouched and go entirely to miners. The basefee is a value that would otherwise be destroyed and has never been part of miner compensation. This creates sustainable, transparent funding without inflation or any impact on miner income.
No. Block rewards and tips remain completely untouched. Olympia redirects the EIP-1559 basefee to the protocol treasury. The basefee is a value that would otherwise be destroyed and has never been part of miner compensation. Miner revenue is unchanged.
Olympia activates on the Mordor testnet first. Mordor is Ethereum Classic's Proof-of-Work testnet and mirrors mainnet conditions closely. Multiple independent client implementations run the Mordor fork before any mainnet activation is scheduled. Cross-client validation using the Hive integration testing framework confirms consensus compatibility across implementations. The mainnet activation block is not set until Mordor has run cleanly and major network stakeholders, including exchanges, custodians, and mining pools, have confirmed readiness.
Olympia is targeted for mainnet activation before 2027. Olympia activates on Mordor testnet first. The mainnet activation block is announced after a successful Mordor run and a coordinated stakeholder readiness check with exchanges, mining pools, node operators, and infrastructure providers. All client implementations publish Olympia-compatible releases well before activation.
Governance operates on two layers. The Olympia DAO uses non-transferable membership NFTs for critical protocol decisions — security maintenance, EVM parity, and client funding. Members cast on-chain votes during a defined voting period via the OpenZeppelin Governor 5.x contract suite. Public participation is enabled through futarchy prediction markets, where anyone can stake on proposal outcomes to signal community sentiment and inform treasury allocation.
Nodes that are not upgraded before the activation block will stop following the canonical chain. You will need to upgrade your client and resync from the fork point. Exchanges, wallets, RPC providers, and services running outdated clients will be unable to process transactions on the post-Olympia chain. Client release announcements are published well in advance to give operators time to upgrade.
In the unlikely event of a critical issue after activation, the same client teams that have managed every ETC emergency response since 2016 would coordinate a patch release promptly. The established stakeholder communication channels, including the ETC Cooperative, client maintainers, and major exchange contacts, are the same ones used for every previous upgrade. Olympia has broader test coverage across more independent client implementations than any previous ETC hard fork, and the Mordor testnet run provides a real network validation environment before mainnet activation.

Ready to Upgrade?

Fukuii is the recommended client. Core-Geth is maintained through the transition.

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