What is Ethereum PoW (ETHW) and How Does It Work?

Bittime -  Ethereum PoW (ETHW) is a forked version of the Ethereum blockchain created by a miner from China. This occurs after The Merge on September 15, 2022. 

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What is The Merge?

The Merge is a merging process between Ethereum's execution and consensus layers. This changed its consensus mechanism from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake ( PoS ). 

With PoS, validators who deposit Ether (ETH) will replace the role of miners who use expensive and energy-intensive hardware to secure the network. This is expected to improve Ethereum's energy efficiency and scalability.

However, before The Merge occurred, there was a group of miners who did not agree with this change and decided to create a forked version of the Ethereum blockchain that still used the PoW mechanism. 

This forked version is called Ethereum PoW (ETHW), which aims to maintain the mining process for ETH miners. With ETHW, any miner can add blocks to the PoW network provided that the first valid block published is the correct one. 

In reality, sometimes more than one valid block is discovered by the network due to latency in data propagation, thus creating branches of the blockchain called forks.

This article will discuss the Ethereum PoW fork, the history of Ethereum PoW, and the differences between ETH and ETHW.

Who is Behind Ethereum PoW (ETHW)?

Ethereum PoW (ETHW) is supported by people from all over the world who prefer PoW over PoS or who simply want to keep both options (PoW and PoS) for developers and users on Ethereum. 

One of the main supporters of ETHW is Chandler Guo, a Chinese miner who opposed the PoS consensus method and launched the PoW-based Ethereum blockchain. Chandler Guo claims that PoW is safer, fairer, and more in line with the spirit of decentralization than PoS.

While creating an Ethereum PoW chain could be a win for miners over validators, ETHW users run into accessibility issues.

The chain ID that ETHW uses is 10001, but this ID is already in use by the Bitcoin Cash testnet. 

As a result, MetaMask crypto wallet users faced problems because the chain ID, which serves as an identifier, could not differentiate between two different blockchains. 

The chain ID can be chosen at will because there is no central repository or registry, but testing before the hard fork should have discovered this contradiction, but the team behind ETHW ignored this problem.

Despite this, some crypto exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase show support for ETHW. For example, Binance announced its ETHW mining pool, stating that it would be subject to the same review process as other cryptocurrencies.

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What Differentiates Ethereum PoW (ETHW) from Ethereum (ETH)?

Ethereum PoW (ETHW) has several differences from Ethereum (ETH) which has switched to PoS. Some of these differences are:

• Ethereum PoW (ETHW) continues to use the same Ethash consensus algorithm as Ethereum before The Merge, while Ethereum (ETH) uses the new Casper consensus algorithm.
• Ethereum PoW (ETHW) removed the planned difficulty bomb to increase mining difficulty exponentially and encourage the transition to PoS, while Ethereum (ETH) retained the difficulty bomb as a coordination mechanism for The Merge.
• Ethereum PoW (ETHW) clones the state of Ethereum at the height of The Merge block. This allows DApp developers and stablecoin issuers to choose which Ethereum chains they support - or copy the application state as well, which will multiply DApps and liquidity on Ethereum to Ethereum PoW.
• Ethereum PoW (ETHW) cannot withdraw ETH deposited to the ETH 2.0 staking contract 0x00000000219ab540356cBB839Cbe05303d7705Fa because it only has a “deposit” function, so the circulating supply of ETHW is reduced by 13,712,994.

How to Get and Use Ethereum PoW (ETHW)?

There are several ways to get and use Ethereum PoW (ETHW), namely:

Mining ETHW with ASIC hardware 

The Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) used is compatible with the Ethash algorithm. You can also join a mining pool such as Binance Pool, F2Pool, or SparkPool to increase your chances of earning rewards.

Exchange your ETH to ETHW via a crypto exchange that supports ETHW 

Exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, Huobi, or OKEx already support ETH to ETHW exchanges. You can also use swap services like Changelly, SimpleSwap, or Swapzone to exchange your ETH for ETHW without needing to register with an exchange.

Send and receive ETHW using a crypto wallet that supports ETHW

Crypto wallets such as MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Ledger, or Trezor already accept ETHW. You must ensure that you have set the correct chain ID for ETHW (10001) and use an address that complies with the EIP-55 format.

Participate in DeFi (Decentralized Finance) activities available on Ethereum PoW (ETHW)

such as lending, borrowing, swapping, or farming. You can use platforms like Compound, Aave, Uniswap, or SushiSwap that run on ETHW.

Conclusion

Ethereum PoW (ETHW) is a forked version of the Ethereum blockchain that continues to use the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism after The Merge. Ethereum PoW (ETHW) is supported by miners who prefer PoW over PoS or who want to keep both options for developers and users on Ethereum. 

Ethereum PoW (ETHW) has several differences from Ethereum (ETH) which has switched to PoS, such as the consensus algorithm, difficulty bomb, blockchain state, and circulating supply. Ethereum PoW (ETHW) can be earned and used by mining, exchanging, sending, receiving, or participating in DeFi activities available on ETHW.

How to Buy Crypto on Bittime

You can buy and sell crypto assets in an easy and safe way via Bittime . Bittime is one of the best crypto applications in Indonesia which is officially registered with Bappebti. 

To be able to buy crypto assets on Bittime , make sure you have registered and completed identity verification. Apart from that, also make sure that you have sufficient balance by depositing some funds into your wallet . For your information, the minimum purchase of assets on Bittime is IDR 10,000. After that, you can purchase crypto assets in the application. 

Monitor price chart movements of Bitcoin (BTC) , Ethereum (ETH ), Solana (SOL) and other cryptos to find out today's crypto market trends in real-time on Bittime.

Also read:

What is Ethereum Difficulty?

The Important Role of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) in the Ethereum Ecosystem

Ethereum (ETH) Prediction 2024? Up or Down?

ETH IDR : Ethereum ETF Prospects, SEC Postpones Grayscale Ethereum Spot ETF Decision

DISCLAIMER : This article is informational in nature and is not an offer or invitation to sell or buy any crypto assets. Trading crypto assets is a high-risk activity. Crypto asset prices are volatile, where prices can change significantly from time to time and Bittime is not responsible for changes in fluctuations in crypto asset exchange rates.