The End of Ethereum Mining Has Been Pushed Back by Several Months

The miners of Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies based on the same blockchain will continue to purchase video cards for some time yet, as it proved out in the end. However, it appears that this is a first step.

The transition will take place after an event known as The Merge takes place on the Ethereum network, which will mark the beginning of the transfer to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) architecture. And now, tentative dates have been determined for the event.

The Merge

Several months have passed since the anticipated shift of the Ethereum network from the more resource-intensive Proof-of Work model to the less resource-intensive Proof-of-Stake model became a reality. To put it another way, in PoW, fresh tokens are mined through calculations, whereas in PoS, a reward for holding onto coins is expected. When this was first disclosed, it was anticipated that the procedure would take many months. The reality is that this did not occur, and gaming graphics cards continue to be in high demand among miners.

The current model implies that transactions and the creation of new assets are difficult to complete in the absence of functional video cards and compute accelerators in the blockchain network. It is anticipated that the new Proof-of-Stake model, in which transactions are spread to randomly selected groups of computers, will greatly lower the amount of CPU load required and boost the speed at which transactions are completed. The final shift to this form is referred to as The Merge.

The End of Mining

It has been revealed that the long-awaited update to The Merge for the Ethereum network, as well as the transfer to the proof-of-stake consensus method, have been postponed once more, giving miners more time to prepare for this event. According to Tim Beiko, a developer of the Ethereum core, this has been announced.

“It will not happen in June, but it will most likely happen in a few months’ time.” There is no specific date set yet, but we are unquestionably in the final phase of the Ethereum network’s Proof-of-Work implementation,” Beiko remarked on his Twitter feed.

Remember that the Merge update for the Ethereum network is required in order to transition from the proof-of-work algorithm (proof of work) to the proof-of-stake algorithm (proof of stake) (proof of ownership). This shift is critical because, once it is completed, cryptocurrency mining utilizing graphics accelerators will be phased out. The new consensus algorithm is predicated on the assumption that each new block will be agreed upon by all of the participants in the blockchain before it is ever created. This procedure will be safeguarded by validators or network users who have given their share of coins (at least 32 ETH) to staking and barred it from taking place further.

More details

Keep in mind that the shift to the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism was initially scheduled for 2021, but has since been pushed back. The frequent delays and transfers, on the other hand, have significantly increased the relevance of Ethereum mining. Beiko, on the other hand, has previously recommended miners to refrain from investing in cryptocurrency mining farms for Ethereum since they will soon become obsolete.

The Ethereum network will become 99 percent more environmentally friendly after moving to the Proof-of-Work algorithm, as substantial quantities of electricity will no longer be necessary to generate new blocks. A high level of ether volatility will be associated with the move to proof-of-work, according to experts, but the overall rate of cryptocurrency will increase dramatically as a result of this transition. This is due to a decrease in the amount of coins that have been produced, which will result in a shortage of supply, causing the cryptocurrency to climb in value.

The New Ethereum Algorithm won’t Affect the Coin

In November 2020, Ethereum, the second most popular cryptocurrency in the world, announced the beginning of a new stage of development: the upgrade to Ethereum 2.0, which would see the blockchain updated. From the zero phase of Ethereum 2.0 onward, the cryptocurrency’s shift to the protective PoS algorithm, also known as “proof of stake consensus,” was initiated. According to the Ethereum Foundation, the upgrade was originally scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2022, but developer Tim Beiko stated in April that the process will take several additional months.

“With the implementation of the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism, the capacity to mine bitcoin using equipment will be rendered moot,” says the author. According to Antonov, due to the halt of mining, Ethereum will become deflationary, since tokens will continue to be burned and there will be significantly fewer new ones created than would otherwise be the case.

According to the expert, Ethereum 2.0 will herald the end of traditional mining, and instead of relying on strong equipment to do hard operations, you will need to have 32 Ethereum in your wallet in order to earn a profit on the cryptocurrency.