With the Ethereum 2.0 update quickly approaching, one could wonder what will happen to all of the people or companies that are currently mining Ethereum. After this week Ethereum will transition from a proof of work to a proof of stake algorithm.
Ethereum 2.0 is a broad term used to cover several improvements to the Ethereum network, which tackle some of its most pressing technical hurdles. Ethereum 2.0, or ETH2, is an informal name—the Ethereum Foundation prefers to refer to Ethereum 2.0 as the consensus layer and ETH 1.0 as the execution layer.
Ethereum 2.0 has been taking shape over several years and is not a one-off event. It started with the launch of the Beacon Chain in December 2020, which allowed the staking of Ether, the native token of the Ethereum network.
The process of staking entails holding tokens for a period of time as a means of supporting the crypto network’s security and validating blocks within the blockchain network. These investors receive rewards for this practice through a process known as proof of stake (PoS).
Currently, Ethereum network hashrate is 871.23 TH/s = 871 233 306 629 058 h/s.
Network hashrate is calculated using the current network difficulty, the average block find time set by the cryptocurrency network and/or the effective block find time of the latest blocks.
In the past two years several asic and gpu mining companies ( Goldshell) have produced miners that have been profitable for mining Ethereum and Ethereum classic. ( Yes, these miners have even been more profitable than mining Bitcoin with Antminers.) As the months have continued to pass the dollar value of Ethereum miners has decreased significantly, this is to be expected but at the same time this could be a perfect storm to buy cheap ehtheruen classic asic miners.
A lot of people are predicting the profitability of mining Ethereum Classic after this week. This assumption is due to the thought that many Ethereum miners will re program their devices to mine ETC instead of ETH.
Inflation continues to trouble economies world wide. In the past month here in the United States:
Inflation surged 8.3%.
Real wages are DOWN 2.8%.
Grocery prices surged 13.5%, the most since 1979.
Electricity skyrocketed 15.8%, the most since 1981.
If there ever was a time to buy cheap Ethereum Classic mining equipment it should happen this winter. It is possible that some miners leave the Ethereum family all together and mine Ravencoin. Ravencoin has experienced a 20% increase this week. The current Ethereum merge will change Cryptocurrency mining forever making the scope of entry more difficult.
