It’s a fact, The Merge clearly sidelines miners even though these people have been a big part of Ethereum’s success. Some are already talking about a conversion to cloud computing or artificial intelligence. Others are considering becoming validators on the new Ethereum 2.0 blockchain.
Use mining hardware for cloud computing
Mining requires powerful, expensive computing hardware, especially for the main cryptos such as ETH or BTC. The miner needs in particular super computers equipped with several GPU cards, a powerful motherboard or an efficient cooling system. Multiply this equipment by tens or hundreds in mining farms. What to do with all that hardware after Ethereum moves to PoS?
HIVE Blockchain for example, the Canadian crypto mining giant, has started mining other GPU-minable coins in anticipation of the Merge. Theoretically, the company could mine Ethereum Classic (ETC), Litecoin (LTC), Monero (XMR), Dogecoin (DOGE), etc. And this, although the market capitalization of these cryptocurrencies does not reach 5% of the 194 billion dollars of Ethereum. The firm also says its GPU cards can be used for cloud computing and AI applications, as well as engineering applications, including scientific modeling of fluid dynamics.
Miners: Towards a retraining in artificial intelligence
Like HIVE Blockchain, Hut 8 Mining wants to retrain in the field of artificial intelligence. The company says it wants to “reuse its machines to provide artificial intelligence, machine learning or services VFX (visual effects) to customers on request. Other miners for whom mining alternative cryptos is no longer profitable are considering reselling their hardware. With a surge in GPU reselling, this may imply likely market saturation.
Sami Kassab, analyst at the crypto-intelligence platform, gives his impressions of the post-Merge situation for miners. She says, “Miners willing to invest additional time and capital will be able to upgrade to high-performance data centers or node operators/providers for Web3 compute protocols, two rapidly growing markets. »
Become a validator on Ethereum 2.0 or switch to Ethereum Classic?
Since miners have ETH tokens, they can consider becoming validators for the Ethereum 2.0 PoS process. As defined on Ethereum.org, a validator is a node in a proof-of-stake system. It is responsible for storing data, processing transactions, and adding new blocks to the blockchain. To become a validating node, a user must stake a minimum of 32 ETH.
Another alternative, switch to Ethereum Classic (ETC) mining which uses a consensus mechanism Proof-of-Work (PoW) to validate transactions. ETC is thus another conversion option for Ethereum miners after the merger. This has also sparked renewed interest in Ethereum Classic which climbed 28% after the announcement of the hard fork Bellatrix from Ethereum.
Theoretically, Ethereum miners will be out of work after the merger, but fortunately there are some interesting retraining options. They can simply forego mining or put their hardware to work with other technologies like AI. There is also the possibility of transferring all mining activities to Ethereum Classic and other alternative cryptos. Unless he wants to become an Ethereum 2.0 validator.
Receive a digest of news in the world of cryptocurrencies by subscribing to our new service of daily and weekly so you don’t miss any of the essential Tremplin.io!
