As Ethereum prepares for its transition to Proof-of-Stake (PoS), the miner community is considering for a transition to Ethereum Classic.
Ethereum Classic (ETC), the first forked version of the Ethereum blockchain network has seen its hash-rate touch a new all-time high. As per data from 2miners, Ethereum Classic touched a record-high hashrate of 48.82 terra hashes per second (TH/s).
The hashrate represents the total computational power required to mine and process transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. The recent surge in Ethereum Classic’s hashrate has resulted from the growth in miner activity ahead of the Merge upgrade on the Ethereum blockchain. The Merge upgrade will transition the Ethereum blockchain to a Proof-of-Stake network while removing the need for miner verification for transactions.
It seems that a large portion of the miner community is moving from Ethereum to Ethereum Classic. Over the last month, the hashrate for Ethereum Classic has shot up by 62.04%. On August 6, the hashrate for ETC was just 30.08 TH/s.
If we look at a larger timeline, the numbers are even more dramatic. Over the last year, the Ethereum Classic hashrate has shot up by 105%. A higher hashrate represents higher safety for the blockchain. The high hashrate will require extremely high computational power to compromise the network through a 51% attack.
In August 2020, the hashrate on Ethereum Classic had dropped to a low of 2.90 TH/s. Back then, the blockchain suffered a 51% attack. Since then, the Ethereum Classic hashrate surged by 1,606% while securing the network again. In addition to the hashrate, ETC’s mining difficulty also reached an all-time high of 626.02T.
Ethereum Classic Jumps 26%
While the broader crypto market continues to stay under pressure, Ethereum Classic owners are having a great time. In the past 24 hours, the price of Ethereum Classic (ETC) crypto has shot up by more than 26% and is currently trading at $40.91 with a market cap of $5.5 billion.
As said, the primary reason behind the ETC price surge is the Merge upgrade and Ethereum’s transition to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model. As a result, some of the mining pools have also mulled an expansion to Ethereum Classic.
In July, Bitmain-operated mining pool AntPool announced its support for Ethereum Classic with a $10 million investment in the ecosystem. Another popular mining pool BTC.com also launched its support for Ethereum Classic. However, the ETC hashrate is still very small in comparison to Ethereum. Thus, there’s a long way to go for it to become a major network for proof-of-work miners.
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