In spite of the historic transition of Ethereum to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, mining pools are increasingly turning to mining the upcoming proof-of-work (PoW) version of Ethereum.
EthereumPoW, the community that advocates for ETHPoW, or the PoW version of Ethereum, has published a list of mining pools that will continue mining after the launch of the ETHW mainnet.
According to EthereumPoW, some of the major Ethereum mining pools are going to continue mining despite Ethereum’s switch to the ecological PoS consensus mechanism.
At press time, the ETHW mining pool list is comprised of a total of 19 different mining pools, including F2Pool, Poolin, AntPool, Nanopool, 2miners, and EthwMine.
Interestingly, the list includes some Russia-linked pools, such as Pool Moscow and BaikalMine, as well as other Ukrainians, such as UA Pool. EthereumPoW noted that the list is growing as more pools join after the mainnet launch.
The aforementioned ETHW mining pools apparently make up significant mining capacity. According to data from ETH.BTC.com, F2Pool is the second Ethereum block mining pool, after Ethermine, with a block share of 15.7% so far this year.
Poolin is also a major contributor, with various Poolin mining pools having a total block share of 8.7%. According to the data, 2miners, Nanopool, and AntPool are also notable mining pools, with an annual block fee of 5%, 3%, and 1.5%, respectively.
Together, ETHW mining pools apparently make up more mining capacity in terms of block quota than Ethermine, the largest Ethereum mining pool in the world, which mined over 28% of all Ethereum blocks over the past year.
Unlike F2Pool and Poolin, Ethermine has opted to end its Ethereum mining pool services due to Ethereum’s switch to PoS, officially announcing a withdrawal-only mode on Wednesday. Instead, the company has launched a new Ethereum staking service in line with the Ethereum Foundation’s Ethereum PoS vision.
F2Pool did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment. This article will be updated pending new information.
As Cointelegraph previously reported, Ethereum PoS transition became a major issue for Ethereum mining companies, since the Ethereum merger was originally designed to eliminate PoW mining.
The merger is positioned as a major upgrade to Ethereum, with the aim of making the cryptocurrency greener and more environmentally friendly. According to Ethereum researcher Justin Drake, the Ethereum merger will reduce global electricity consumption by 0.2%.
“The merge will reduce worldwide electricity consumption by 0.2%” – @drakefjustin
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) September 15, 2022
Due to the switch from Ethereum to PoS, companies related to Ethereum mining have been actively looking for solutions to continue mining. For example, cryptocurrency miner Hive Blockchain has been working to replace Ether (ETH) mining with other currencies.
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