Ethereum is by far the most popular cryptocurrency for GPU miners. However, there is little time left for Ethereum in its proof-of-work state. It moves to proof-of-stake later this year when it merges with the beacon chain.
What will happen to GPU miners, and where will the hashing power end up? There are plenty of options, but will any of them be profitable following a considerable increase in hashrate?
The Ethereum Merge
The decline in crypto markets has made even mining Ethereum unprofitable for many miners. However, after Ethereum moves to proof-of-stake, GPU miners will no longer be able to mine Ethereum. With the price decline, the increase in energy costs, and the merge date drawing closer, the hashrate of the Ethereum network has dropped dramatically.
A reduction in hashrate causes the mining difficulty to decline, thus making GPUs more efficient. Yet, the 10% decrease has done nothing to cover the other factors driving the profitability of Ethereum mining to fall.
This information suggests that miners are turning off their machines as returns dwindle. Only miners who pay less than $0.235kwh using the latest generation of GPUs are currently able to turn a profit mining Ethereum. For instance, a mining rig made up of AMD Vega64 cards, one of the most cost-efficient GPUs during the 2021 bull run, now requires an energy cost of less than $0.18kwh to be profitable.
Therefore, the question is, what are miners doing with their GPUs as they move away from Ethereum?
POW altcoins mined by GPU
Mark d’Aria from BitPro crunched the numbers regarding other altcoins and the future of GPU mining. He concluded that “it’s’ possible that GPU mining has a renaissance, and we do this all over again.” Miners cannot simply switch to another slightly less profitable coin due to the influx of hashing power that will come after proof-of-work is turned off on Ethereum….
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Ethereum – CryptoSlate…
