EthereumPOW hit by triple whammy: plummeting mining activity and…

• Mining activity on EthereumPoW is at an all-time low.
• DeFi activity on the chain is also almost non-existent.

The hashrate of EthereumPoW’s [ETHW] network has hit an all-time low due to a continuous decrease in mining activity, data from 2Miners.com revealed.

As of this writing, the network’s hashrate stood at 14.82 TH/s, having fallen by almost 80% since the chain became operational last September.

Source: 2Miners.com

Likewise, the drop in mining activity on the EthereumPOW in the last few months culminated in a similar downward trend in the chain’s mining difficulty.

At press time, the network difficulty was 199.83 T, its lowest level since the first block was mined on the network when Ethereum transitioned into a Proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism in September 2022.

Source: 2Miners.com

A decrease in a network’s hashrate and mining difficulty can suggest a reduction in the number of miners who are actively participating in the network’s mining process.

This can be caused by a number of factors, such as reduced rewards for miners, or a decline in the value of the cryptocurrency being mined.

Read EthereumPoW’s [ETHW] Price Prediction 2023-2024

Looking at ETHW’s price action since the merge showed a steady fall in value.

According to CoinMarketCap, the alt’s price has decreased by 91%. This has led to a drop in fees miners earn on the proof-of-work network, causing them to exit the chain in their numbers.

Should this decline persist, it could lead to reduced security and stability of the network over time.

DeFi activity is also dwindling

Per data from DefiLlama, the total value of assets (TVL) locked on EthereumPoW was $533,354. This year alone, the network’s TVL has declined by 32%. 

Following its launch in September 2022, the network experienced a notable increase in the number of DeFi projects launched on it.

This resulted in a temporary rise in its TVL, which reached a record high of $6.76 million on 29 October 2022. However, since then, the TVL has declined by 92%.

Source: DefiLlama

To provide context, of the 15 DeFi protocols housed within the chain, only one logged a meager 0.16% uptick in TVL in the last 30 days. Of the 15 projects, nine recorded double-digit declines in TVL. 

Source: DefiLlama

User activity is high

According to data from OKLink, EthereumPoW saw an influx of new addresses in the last 24 hours.

According to the on-chain data provider, 196,541 new addresses were created on the blockchain, bringing the total number of addresses on the chain to 294 million.

How much are 1,10,100 ETHWs worth today?

Notably, the chain has 294 million addresses, but only 304,492 addresses, which is equivalent to 0.1%, were active.

Source: OKLink