![Countdown to Hardfork.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmQZopFTTt6Xw77ER7LGTai2aL1pd3swJDqjtfNZuvj5oE/Countdown%20to%20Hardfork.png)


# Steem Hard Fork 21 is happening in less than 4 days!

As the world’s foremost functional blockchain-based decentralized social media network, Steem will yet again set another milestone by improving its blockchain functionalities and implement a better token econnomy. This will be done via Steem Hard Fork 21, in which the consortium of Top 20 witnesses have [achieved consensus](https://prnt.sc/own3s6) for.

## Hard Fork 21 is a Go

To anticipate the countdown, we at CoinGecko has published [a special page](https://www.coingecko.com/en/explain/steem_hf21) where users of the site can count down towards Steem hard fork 21.

<center><b><em>The countdown is now prominently featured on CoinGecko's Front Page!</em></b></center>

<a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en"><img src="https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbgmyvPDwssQRu5GumqYaYir9nYNgZe41ZXgdZMsXAdqp/Screenshot_4.png"></a>
<center><sub>The first thing visitors will see is a countdown to Steem hard fork</sub>
</center>

With millions of dedicated users coming to our website for the sole purpose of keeping updated or researching the cryptocurrency market, we are confident that this countdown will get some of our users interested in learning more about Steem Hard Fork.


## Approaching Hard Fork 21

As a Steem User, you do not need to do anything during Steem hard fork 21. Do expect some changes and be prepared for the possibility that some Steem Dapps may experience issues during the transition to Hard Fork 21.

As a Steem Stakeholder and trader, trading of Steem on [Exchanges](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/steem/trading_exchanges#panel) should largely be unaffected. That being said, we will monitor for any possibility and put up a notice on [CoinGecko's Steem Page](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/steem/) if the worst were to happen.

Make sure that the witnesses you've voted have already upgraded to Witness Node Version 0.21.0 by the time the Hard Fork occur. 

<sub>(*We are currently replaying our witness node as you are reading this, hold tight as we upgrade to Version 0.21.0 real soon!*)</sub>

![CoinGecko Separator.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmTsJv2HitL9YgozEsjcBwAr4Ygc9S8ZTxcWLbDtiirtZf/CoinGecko%20Separator.png)

## CoinGecko as a Witness on Steem

We are proud to be an active participant and witness on Steem over the year. We believe that a platform such as Steem will benefit businesses greatly with interesting token economy. 

Moreover, we've seen time and time again how centralized platforms abused their mandate and trust from the users all because alternatives were not an option - something has to change.

We believe that there is a lot more potential for Steem and we would like to play a role as Steem develops further.

You can read more about [why we run a witness node on Steem here](https://steemit.com/witness-category/@coingecko/coingecko-is-running-for-steem-witness).