Ethereum Classic hash rate climbs over 300%.

The Ethereum Classic blockchain has seen a significant spike in its hash rate as miners migrate from the Ethereum blockchain.

For years, miners have kept the Ethereum blockchain running using the proof-of-work mechanism. However, the transition to a PoS mechanism means that miners will be replaced by validators. As expected, these miners have migrated to other blockchains that operate under the PoW ecosystem.

Of these, Ethereum Classic is in the lead. Just 24 hours after the merger, Ethereum Classic’s hash rate increased from 64TH/s to 214TH/s, an increase of more than 330%. According to 2Miners, the blockchain’s hash rate has steadily increased over the past 30 days. The data suggests that the hash rate has increased by 500%.

Ethereum Classic’s hash rate increase is in line with expectations.

The jump in hash rate is not surprising since Ethereum Classic’s mining algorithm is compatible with PoW Ethereum. Known as Ethash, the algorithm allows Ethereum Classic (ETC) to be mined with the same mining machines previously used for the Ethereum chain.

So far, the main mining pool on Ethereum, Ethermine, has become the largest mining pool on Ethereum Classic after the merger. With over 30,000 miners, the mining pool contributes about 57TH/s.

Meanwhile, it’s not just Ethereum Classic that has seen a growth in hash rate. According to 2Miners, the Ergo blockchain has seen its hash rate increase from 27TH/s to 136TH/s. Similarly, Ravencoin doubled its hash rate from 8TH/s to about 16TH/s.

Group to develop PoWEthereum with a Hard Fork

Meanwhile, several other crypto-currency mining pools on the Ethereum blockchain are preparing a hard fork of the Ethereum mainnet later today. The team, led by Chandler Gu, believes it is “cautious to pursue an Ethereum PoW“.

Together with the developers, the team will develop and maintain an Ethereum PoW. According to them, “if PoS Ethereum is really that great, why be afraid of the competition?“

Earlier in the day, several Ethereum mining pools, including BTC.com, F2Pool, Nanopool and Poolin, announced that they were supporting ETHW mining. The group also noted that many other mining pools were running mining tests using data from its testnet. We’ll know if Ethereum PoW will also see an increase in its hash rate when the hard fork happens.