Ethereum hard fork: What is it, when will it happen and what will it do to prices?

Tomorrow marks the first major event in the world of cryptocurrencies in 2019, which could bring about a range of consequences from price swings to falling user numbers. But what do analysts think will actually happen?

The so-called hard fork, which will see the Ethereum network upgrade its code to sit on a new version of its blockchain software called Constantinople, is expected to be rather uneventful.

The move follows the bitcoin cash hard fork in November last year, when bitcoin cash split into two new currencies, bitcoin cash ABC and bitcoin cash SV, as a result of disagreements surrounding the currency's future. Nearly half of the bitcoin cash network's market value was wiped out as a result.

Unlike last time, the Ethereum network will stay in one piece throughout tomorrow's upgrade. Known as a 'non-contentious' fork, there are no signs that any one particular entity is fighting against the move, meaning things should go smoothly. 

Scheduled to happen at some point in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the risks then appear in some of the more minor technical changes to the Ethereum network.

Read more: The year crypto went crazy: What's next for bitcoin in 2019?

On Constantinople, so-called miners – people who use machines and power to mint new coins into circulation – will receive only two coins per block as a reward for their work instead of three. Some have expressed unhappiness at this decision, because miners will often sell their coins immediately after minting them to turn a profit.

However Piers Courtney, an analyst at crypto broker Globalblock, said there's no reason to worry.

"The beauty of these updates is that the average user has nothing to fear and will not notice any changes or that the fork even occurred at all," said Courtney.

He said that in the short term, both shortly before and during the fork, investors could expect to see price volatility of cryptocurrencies pick up a little. After consensus is reached on the upgrade, things will steady out.

"It has been widely reported that this hard fork is expected to relieve some of the tensions that have been building regarding [Ethereum] and is likely to be positive for the valuation of ether in the foreseeable future," he added. 

"Either way, all eyes are on Ethereum over the next 48 hours to see how it all goes."