The crypto community celebrated the release of Ethereum’s proof-of-stake in 2022. This switch eliminated competitive ether mining, leaving ether miners holding idle expensive mining machinery. However, the mining community would not be left out—Ethereum hard forks appeared or already existed, which allowed coins (of a different name) to be mined.
Some miners turned to hardforks such as Ethereum Classic, while others found altcoins compatible with their rigs.
Key Takeaways
- The Ethereum Merge was the transition from a proof-of-work validation mechanism to a proof-of-stake model.
- Transitioning to proof-of-work affected the Ethereum mining industry, rendering expensive mining equipment useless unless alternatives were found.
- There are a few ways miners kept mining: by mining other altcoins, Ethereum Classic, or other proposed Ethereum forks.
- Ex-miners with enough ether were also able to stake it on the updated Ethereum blockchain and act as validators to earn rewards.
Altcoins Can Be Mined
Several Ethereum blockchain forks run proof-of-work validation and are compatible with Ethash ASICs and graphics processing units (GPUs). This can offer those who want to mine an alternative to the old Ethereum.
The blockchain that comes closest to the old ether mining is Ethereum Classic (ETC), which was created in 2016 after an attack on the Ethereum network. This attack caused the developers to roll the blockchain state back. This move was opposed by those who believed a blockchain should never be rolled back, even to reinstate stolen funds—these opponents created a hard fork that is still minable.
What to Mine Instead
Miners who want to continue using their rigs to profit only have one option—they can start mining altcoins, some of which are hard forks.
Here are some altcoins and forks that can be mined using an Ethash ASIC or GPU miner:
- Ethereum Classic (ETC): One of the more popular Ethereum forks, it has good trading volume on many exchanges.
- EthereumPOW (ETHW): ETHW has a decent trading volume and is traded on several exchanges.
- Zilliqa (ZIL): ZIL has a decent trading volume, and the project has ongoing updates.
- Canxium (CAU): CAU has some trading volume and a decent market value.
- MaxxChain (PWR): The project appears active, but trading volume is low.
Some miners claim to use their old equipment to mine multiple altcoins simultaneously. In some cases, this is possible because some altcoins don’t require the computational resources the old Ethereum blockchain needed.
Other Mining Options
Cryptocurrencies are being introduced daily, so there may be many more blockchains that allow mining in the future. Otherwise, the only way to earn on Ethereum is to buy ether and stake it as a validator, join a staking pool, or delegate it to another validator who pays those who delegate their ether.
How Long Does It Take to Mine 1 Ether?
Ether is no longer mineable; it is paid in fees to those who have staked their ETH. The only other way to acquire it is to purchase it on an exchange.
It Is Still Profitable to Mine Ethereum?
Because Ethereum shifted to proof-of-stake in 2022, you cannot mine ether. But you can mine altcoins that use the same algorithm as Ethereum used to, and some may be profitable.
How Is Ethereum Mined?
It was never possible to mine Ethereum, as this is the name of the blockchain and ecosystem. Ether is the blockchain’s native token. It used to be mineable, but mining was removed in 2022.
The Bottom Line
There are some positive signs that mining will continue to be in demand regardless of the success of Ethereum’s update to proof-of-stake. While Ethereum mining may be over, there are ways to continue mining other cryptocurrencies using the same equipment.
That said, there are altcoins available to mine, but the profitability of doing so is much less than it was on the old Ethereum blockchain.
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