News hardware Miners are abandoning Ethereum to turn to another cryptocurrency
Published on 07/08/2022 at 13:10
With Ethereum’s The Merge update fast approaching, it’s highly likely that some former miners of the second-biggest crypto will turn to another cryptocurrency to mine.
Summary
- Ethereum in the hearts of cryptocurrency miners
- The merge will change the habits of miners
- Ethereum Classic, Ethereum’s little sister, a crypto of choice for miners
- The birth of Ethereum Classic
Ethereum in the hearts of cryptocurrency miners
For several years, Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin, has filled the coffers of graphics card providers. In just two years, its price has multiplied by 40 if we refer to its ATH (all time High, record value) of November 2021.
By going from a hundred dollars to almost 5,000 dollars, Ethereum has been able to attract miners of all kinds, whether professional or not. Less energy-intensive than Bitcoin, cryptocurrency has established itself both on mining farms and in the homes of amateur miners. This strong enthusiasm has partly contributed to the shortage of graphics card stocks that we have experienced in recent times… leaving a few gamers on the sidelines.
The merge will change the habits of miners
Only, mining aficionados will have to fall back on a cryptocurrency by the end of the year. Indeed, Ether can no longer be mined using computing power since the network of the second largest cryptocurrency will change its protocol from proof of work to proof of stake.
Thus, the many miners using mining rigs aligning several dozen graphics cards will be forced to sell their equipment or switch to another crypto to be mined.
Aware of the disappointment of some users following the update scheduled for September 2022, the CEO of Ethereum himself advised miners to switch to Ethereum Classic. At the EThCC community conference, Vitalik Buterin suggested that miners using proof of work should switch to the Ethereum classic cryptocurrency.
Ethereum Classic, Ethereum’s little sister, a crypto of choice for miners
Like the game World of Warcraft (which Vitalik Buterin particularly appreciates by the way), Ethereum also has a “classic” version. Concretely, Ethereum classic is the original version of Ethereum, without the multitude of updates made since its birth. As a result, Ethereum Classic can be mined despite Ethereum’s proof-of-stake update.
So, when Ethereum will require capital to be mined, it is very likely that several miners will leave with their graphics cards to mine Ethereum Classic. In the absence of an update, Ethereum Classic functions as it did in its infancy. Miners will therefore not be out of place since it is the original Ethereum blockchain launched in 2015.
The philosophy behind Eth Classic is close to Bitcoin. Indeed, the Ethereum Classic community places the code at the center: no matter the security threats, humans should not intervene, since in theory, the code is sufficient on its own.
For this reason, the Ethereum Classic network operates under a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization). This system allows each of the users to vote in different decision-making regarding cryptocurrency.
The birth of Ethereum Classic
Ethereum Classic was born in 2016, following the hacking of the Ethereum network. A year following its launch, Ethereum had been the victim of a hack worth 3.6 million Ether (ETH), from around 50 million.
With the aim of finding a solution to this exceptional hack, the founders and users of Ethereum have chosen to create a hard fork. A “fork” arises when a community decides to modify the protocol of the blockchain or a set of its rules with the aim of creating a division of the blockchain. By resetting the blockchain, the sleight of hand enabled users to find the $50 million locked in the Ethereum system.
Since this event, Ethereum Classic has continued on its way. Similar to its big sister Ethereum, the cryptocurrency has gathered an active community, ranking it among the top 20 cryptos by market capitalization. Will the massive influx of miners drive up the price of Ethereum Classic? See you in September…
