Parity Says ‘No Intention’ to Split Ethereum Over Fund Recovery

Parity Technologies issued a statement Thursday stating it has no plans to move forward with a code change that would result in an ethereum blockchain split.

Named EIP-999, the contentious code change would recover the $264 million lost due to a code fault in Parity wallets in November 2017.

Signed by co-founder of the company Gavin Wood and co-founder and CEO Jutta Steiner, the statement emphasizes that the company has "no intention to split the ethereum chain," but rather, plans to "work with the community to find a path forward."

The statement continues:

"We have all dedicated a great deal of time and effort to developing the ethereum ecosystem and have no intention of harming what we have helped build."

Part of an ongoing debate on the fund recovery, EIP-999 has been a point of division within the ethereum community, with developers warning that the polarized sentiment could result in a split.

Speaking in the statement, Parity said it is "deeply sorry" to the users that lost money as a result of bugs, continuing that it believes that those who have lost money, do "have a case for attempting to recover the property."

Disagreement as to whether funds lost due to bugs on ethereum should be recovered has been ongoing for several months. Last week, developer Alex Van de Sande warned in a developer meeting if the current recovery attempt was implemented, "it will generate a contentious hard fork."

Speaking in the statement, Parity said that the company has implemented more robust security practices since the fund freeze last year, including an improved development process for smart contracts, and a partnership with auditing firm Trail of Bits.

Paper chain image via Shutterstock