According to a recent YouTube video posted by the Ethereum Foundation, the core developers have agreed to implement ASIC resistance. This is part of the ProgPow update, which is set to take place in July this year. This update will be made after the EIP-1962 update that will be implemented in June.
Developers Back ProgPow Ethereum
This marks the third time that core developers have agreed to implement the ProgPow update. However, some of the developers have expressed some unease with this issue. They believe it has the potential to split the Ethereum community.
For instance, some developers have raised concerns that some exchanges may continue both the old and new mining algorithms of Ethereum, which could help them maximize fees. However, this would result in the community being split. However, James Hancock, who is the Hardfork Coordinator, does not believe this split will occur. He said that he has not seen the evidence to back up this claim. Hancock added that if it turned out he was wrong, he would resign from his position.
Ethereum already underwent a split. In the first attempt to create a DAO, the network was exploited and hackers made away with 3.6 million ETH. This led to the core developers refunding all those that were affected. As a result, it led to the formation of Ethereum Classic.
Notable Opposition to ProgPow Implementation
Some notable personalities are opposed to the ProgPow implementation. These are Ameen Soleimani, who is the CEO of SpankChain and Martin Köppelmann the founder of Gnosis. They were both invited to voice their opposition to the upgrade. However, the team remains unmoved. According to one developer, this is because they have already approved the upgrade twice.
How ASIC Mining Became Part of Ethereum
The original version of the Ethereum whitepaper considered providing ASIC resistance. The belief was that it would be better for the decentralization of the network and community engagement. However, this idea was abandoned soon after Bitmain came out with an ASIC designed for Ethereum mining. In 2019, Canaan released an ASIC that offered 5 times better efficiency than existing hardware.
While most ASIC makers want Ethereum to remain susceptible to ASIC mining, the community does not support it. This is because mining pools, which represent 75% of the hash rate, voted in favor of ASIC resistance.
When ASIC mining began, Etherum’s founder Vitalik Buterin was hesitant to promote ASIC resistance. This was because he believed staking would be implemented soon via Ethereum 2.0, which would make the entire exercise pointless. However, the implementation of Ethereum 2.0 has yet to happen after nearly 2 years. As a result, no one is sure when staking will be implemented. This makes implementing ASIC resistance a viable decision.
Recent Ethereum Price
The planned implementation could help to decentralize Ethereum mining by reducing the influence wealthy miners have. Additionally, it could help to grow the community by encouraging people with ordinary hardware to mine Ethereum. Most recently, ETH price has been surging. Many investors are starting to understand the progression ETH has made even since it was trading around $1,000. One could argue that since 2017, the ETH network is stronger and more valuable than ever. When Ethereum price was trading around $1,000 there wasn’t:
- Layer 2 solutions
- Ethereum Backed Stablecoins
- DeFi Lending
- Automated Token Exchanges On Ethereum
Ethereum price has surged +55% the last month compared to Bitcoin price which has seen +11% growth the last 30 days. The chart below further references the rally ETH has been experiencing of late.
