With the Ethereum Merge approaching the final Bellatrix upgrade was pushed, earlier this week. Miners have started looking for alternatives since the highly-anticipated upgrade will vanish the ETH mining community.
Ethereum Classic [ETC] which follows a Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism has experienced a sudden rise in its total hashrate. In just a month, the hashrate of ETC increased by over 50%. It indicates new miners are entering the ecosystem as the Merge approaches.
There are two kinds of miners: one who wants a hard fork that will result in Ethereum’s PoW alternative. The other sect is happy with the existing alt.
The Increasing popularity of ETC….
The popularity of ETC is continuously growing among the mining community as is evident from the hashrate chart. Currently, in terms of market cap, ETC is in the fourth position in the list of top PoW tokens in the world. While ETC grabs the third position considering the trading volume. The Merge could probably bring change in these figures when more miners enter the ETC community.
With the increase in the total hashrate, the price of ETC rose too and it surpassed various crypto assets last month. The price of ETC started booming in mid-July from $14.17 and reached $44.67 on August 13, the highest in the year so far.
The ever-increasing prices of electricity around the globe and the decreasing mining profitability of Ethereum are currently the major concerns. The miners however got relief due to these factors and ETC’s ever-increasing prices.
Where is it Heading?
Many miners are still hesitant to join the ETC ecosystem since they are in favor of a hard-fork to create a PoW alternative to ETH after Merge. The ETHW community has also launched “Iceberg,” the first testnet quite recently.
ETHW has urged miners, exchanges, and others to offer their support and join the community with this new advancement. More information on the condition of the ETHW community will be known in the coming weeks.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/08/29/will-ethereum-classic-prove-to-be-next-best-shelter-for-ethereum-miners/