Dissent if the Fork: Ethereums fight against ASIC Miner

the Ethereum is regarded as the last Bastion of a romanticised idea of crypto-Mining. Until recently, individuals with commercially available graphics cards, profit could mines Abel ETH on the home computer. The algorithm Update ProgPoW to ensure that this remains so in the future – to the displeasure of the large Mining Pools.

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9. January 2019TeilenFacebookTwitterLinkedInxingemail

Hardforks are all the while accompanied by a huge Dose of controversy. Logically, when you consider that Software Updates to the Protocol only, then a Hard Fork, if disagreement about the implementation of the Changes. Miner, the call, from the columns, then those who reject the Updates, or other suggestions. The Chains are in this case incompatible, and columns. Voila: A Hard Fork.

Controversial algorithm Update

The trench warfare in the course of the upcoming Ethereum Updates from a wide range of meanwhile, on the Mining community. More specifically, the upcoming implementation of ProgPoW, a new consensus algorithm that is designed to build on the current Ethash algorithm.

the aim of the Whole is a reduction in the market concentration of so-called ASIC miners. These are specifically for the crypto-Mining designed graphics, compared to traditional GPUs and CPUs have significant advantages in efficiency and speed. ProgPoW would defuse these advantages and more competition and equality in the Mining concerns, there is also GPU-would Miner competitive again.

For the ETH community is ProgPoW a matter of the heart. As long as the second-largest crypto currency was to market capitalization as an exemplary example of a distributed network. The Mining was not reserved for only wealthy Pools, even private individuals, who had built powerful graphics cards in their computers, could mines profitable.

ASICs, also at ETH is on the rise

The fat years are over, however. As in the case of BTC, the Mining is also at the ETH to competitive business, ASIC miners are displacing the threshold, the GPUs. This one tries to avoid by ProgPoW.

However, also applies here: "one man's meat is another man's poison." While the ETH base attracts whether of the upcoming Hard Fork glad, it represents the large Mining Pools. Because ASIC miners are not fall from the sky; the establishment of competitive Mining farms devouring in advance of millions of investment, the planning is designed accordingly to the long period of time.

ProgPoW Should be implemented, threaten to fizzle out the investment; this, at least, Linzhi, a Shenzhen, China-based manufacturer of ASIC miners feared. According to the notification from Coindesk, the company released on Tuesday, the 8.1., a Statement (which is nowhere to be found), in which Linzhi "shocked" about the implementation of ProgPoW shows.

"We reject the arbitrary enforcement of rules, and require clear and same guidelines for all hardware manufacturers,"

Coindesk quoted in the press release.

The purchase of ASIC miners from the home Linzhi would be after the Update, hardly worth it, since they are many times more expensive than ordinary GPUs, but no efficiency advantage anymore. This is so far, however, only marginal. In contrast to Bitcoin's PoW algorithm, in the case of the miners with ASICs are profitable to mine, are ASICs in the ETH network, not even twice as efficient.

ProgPoW not in January,

, However, is not at all clear that ProgPoW already in the for the 16. January will be implemented planned Constantinople Hard Fork. In the minutes of the last meeting of the Ethereum core development team is no mention of the implementation of the new Ethash-Algrithmus with ProgPoW Update.

Even if the prevention of more market concentration in the ETH network, is a romantic notion, in the long run you will find with a lot of capital – even under ProgPoW – means more efficient than to mine the less affluent competition.