The year 2022 marked a significant change for Ethereum as it transitioned from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism. This change from mining to staking has influenced the Ethereum miners since then. In reaction, the original Ethereum miners have redirected their efforts towards the EthereumPow network.
In this blog post, we will discuss what Proo-of-work is, about EthereumPoW (ETHW), and what makes EthereumPow different.
What Is Proof-of-work?
Unlike traditional financial systems where centralized authorities verify the accuracy of new transactions and data, blockchain systems operate differently. They depend on a decentralized network of participants to validate new transactions. Once validated, these transactions are added to the blockchain as new blocks.
Proof of Work (PoW) is a consensus process used to decide which participants, often referred to as miners, are authorized to verify new data. This process is profitable because miners are rewarded with new cryptocurrency for accurately validating new data without gaming the system. If they attempt to cheat, they risk losing the new cryptocurrency. As such, PoW is viewed as a fair consensus mechanism, rewarding those who contribute the most computing power.
However, it's important to note that PoW is energy-intensive. This is because miners must compete to solve complex computational puzzles. Consequently, the high energy consumption of PoW leads to significant environmental impacts. Furthermore, PoW can be challenging to scale as the network can become overwhelmed with transactions, leading to congestion.
What Is EthereumPoW?
ETHW, short for EthereumPoW, is a Proof-of-Work (PoW) fork of Ethereum. It is a community-based project of sovereign developers and miners led by Chandler Guo, a veteran of the cryptocurrency sector.
On July 27, 2022, Guo tweeted out the concept of ETHW to his followers. Since then, there has been a lot of interest in the matter, particularly among miners opposed to The Merge. Even Justin Sun, founder of Tron and investor in Poloniex, pushed for the project to implement the Proof-of-Work mechanism on Ethereum and offered to donate some split ETHW to help build up the ecosystem.
Poloniex, on the other hand, ended up supporting a different fork of Ethereum dubbed EthereumFair (ETHF) after the Merge.
The core contributors to ETHW have released a thread on Twitter outlining a timeline for activating ETHW mechanisms on the mainnet. Following "The Merge," the transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, the mainnet is scheduled to go live a few hours later.
About ETHW
ETHW is the native token for the EthereumPoW network. Following are some of the key points to understand:
- It uses the PoW consensus mechanism.
- It was created in response to the Ethereum Merge.
- It is a viable alternative to Ethereum for those who prefer PoW.
- It is more energy-intensive than PoS.
Current trading price: $1.569
Market capitalization: 188.37 million
Total supply: 120.00 million
How Does EthereumPoW Work?
The Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus method was the foundation of the first version of the Ethereum network, known as Ethereum Classic. However, in response to the DAO hack, this version was hard forked to protect the network further. The other two hard forks that will continue to use proof-of-work mining are EthereumFair and EthereumPOW.
Similarly, to prevent anyone from manipulating the system, ETHW miners will continue to solve arbitrary mathematical challenges to validate transactions and mine new coins. In exchange for their work, they receive ETHW, the asset inherent to the ETHPoW chain.
Features of ETHW
PoW Mechanism
The proof-of-work protocol is neutral. To get started, you don't need any ETH, and the block rewards can take you from having no ETH to having a positive balance. When working with proof-of-stake, you must begin with ETH.
Attractive For Miners
The Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus protocol has an incentive structure that requires miners to generate many hashes before discovering the hash corresponding to the first block that matches, which results in greater power consumption. Meanwhile, the consensus mechanism makes adjustments to the difficulty of block hashing in response to changes in the computational capacity of the network. This results in an increase in hashing speed across the network as a whole.
The fact that Ethereum's miners are leaving means that valuable energy is being wasted, which compels the platform to adopt the proof-of-stake consensus process. Miners that have previously invested in mining hardware may find ETHW profitable. On the other hand, the PoS consensus approach uses less energy than other methods, making it possible to scale networks at a minimal cost.
Storing ETHW
ETHW can be stored in either hardware or software wallets, according to the user's preference. Using offline wallets like the Ledger Nano S, hardware wallets provide more protection than software wallets.
One further option is to use paper wallets. These are just pieces of paper, including private and public keys and QR codes. Again, the owner's ETHW cannot be reclaimed if the document that contains this information is misplaced or ends up in the hands of others who are not authorized to see it.
How to Buy ETHW?
CoinEx is a global cryptocurrency exchange, trusted by 5+ millions of users worldwide with 100% reserve. With its 700+ tokens supported, including ETHW, users can now trade easily and seamlessly. To purchase ETHW tokens on CoinEx, follow the steps below.
- Create an Account: Start by signing up for a CoinEx account.
- Deposit Funds: After logging in, deposit funds into your CoinEx account using any supported cryptocurrencies or deposit methods available on the exchange. Having funds in your account enables you to execute trades seamlessly.
- Navigate to Trading Page: Once your account is funded, go to the dedicated ETHW trading page on CoinEx. Here, you can find various trading pairs involving ETHW tokens.
- Choose a Trading Pair: Select the desired trading pair that matches ETHW with another cryptocurrency. For instance, you may choose ETHW/USDT if you wish to trade ETHW against USDT (Tether).
- Specify the Purchase Amount: Determine the quantity of ETHW tokens you want to purchase. Input the amount in the trading interface, which will calculate the corresponding cost based on the current market price.
- Execute the Trade: With the specified amount, proceed to execute the trade. Confirm the details, and if you are satisfied, submit the order.
By following these comprehensive steps, you can easily trade ETHW on CoinEx, taking advantage of the available trading pairs.
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