As the move to a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus is expected to make the Ethereum network much cheaper, faster and environmentally friendly, it will technically put an end to the practice of Ethereum mining, a process by which miners earn an ETH income for supplying the blockchain with resources, which will soon become obsolete.
That’s why some prominent Chinese miners are proposing a hard fork, whereby a newly separated PoW version of the chain could help them keep their jobs. In July alone, miners produced over $620 million worth of ether, and none of it would be possible again when the Merge takes place this September.
“We currently have more than 1 million ETH,” Justin Sun, founder of Tron, said in a Thursday tweet. “If Ethereum hard fork succeeds, we will donate some forked #ETHW to #ETHW community and developers to build Ethereum ecosystem.”
Crypto exchange Poloniex has also offered support for the Ethereum fork, dubbed the EthereumPOW. In a blog post, the exchange wrote: “Poloniex will give full support to ETH’s upgrade and its potential hard fork. If successful, the Merge could create two parallel blockchains after the upgrade. All Ethereum (ETH) holders on Poloniex will receive the forked assets at a 1:1 ratio when the upgrade is completed.”
In addition to listing both ether and the forked token, ETHW, and letting customers exchange them at a 1:1 ratio, a futures product for the new token will be also be launched in August, allowing investors to bet on prices.
EthereumPOW backers also set up a Twitter account with a donation address earlier this week so community members can partake in fund development. So far, the address has received $1,400 worth of ether and $400 in tether.
Moreover, Tron-based stablecoin USDD, in which Sun has invested billions of dollars, will become the “first stablecoin in the EthereumPOW ecosystem,” according to a tweet.
If you see something out of place or would like to contribute to this story, check out our Ethics and Policy section.