Where did Ethereum miners migrate to after the merger?

Before the merger, there was reasonable social activity around proof-of-work based blockchain networks. On the other side, a White House report on energy use indicated that the U.S. government should reduce mining activities that depend on excessive energy use.

The report suggests limiting or banning crypto-currency mining, especially the energy inefficient method. The White House mentioned its restrictions on energy-intensive consensus mechanisms as the proof-of-work method.

Ethereum miners migrate to these crypto-currencies

After Ethereum switched to the new consensus mechanism, miners migrated to a few other projects. Miners are largely dependent on just a few blockchains – Ethereum Classic, Ergo and Ravencoin. According to a Forbes report, these projects are reasonably better options given the mining capabilities and rewards. As a result, on the day the merger was successfully completed, these crypto-currencies saw a huge spike in hash rate. Hash rate is the total computing power used by crypto-currencies to mine and process transactions. This indicates the speed of mining on the blockchain network.

Miners’ profits plunge

Hash rates on Ethereum Classic, Ravencoin, and Ergo jumped 124%, 98%, and 146%, respectively, after the completion of the Ethereum merger on September 17. However, the mining capabilities of these networks only support a fraction of what Ethereum offered before the merger. While the hash rate for Ethereum before the merger was about 867 (TH/s), these three networks offer only 28%. Furthermore, with the increase in miner traffic on these networks, profits have decreased from pre-merger levels.

Meanwhile, the price of Ethereum Classic (ETC) plunged after the merger and has failed to recover since. ETC’s price stands at $34.21, down 1.13 percent over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. The same is true for Ethereum (ETH), which continues to fluctuate in post-merger levels. The price of ETH stands at $1,454.58, up 0.73 percent over the past 24 hours.