It finally happened: Ethereum’s long-promised plan to phase out GPU mining is complete.
Early Thursday morning, the cryptocurrency fully switched over to a 'Proof of Stake' algorithm, ending Ethereum’s long dependence on a traditional mining model.
The transition, dubbed “The Merge,” means Ethereum has now cut its power consumption demands by as much as 99.95%. It also means cryptocurrency miners can no longer use their PC graphics cards to generate Ethereum. Instead, they’ll have to settle for other mine-able virtual currencies worth far less or consider selling their GPUs.
Ethereum has been talking about phasing out GPU-based mining for years. But the topic entered the limelight last year amid a GPU shortage that saw cryptocurrency miners hoarding graphics cards, making it difficult for average consumers to buy them, too.
Since then, the GPU market has flipped, resulting in an oversupply situation. Ethereum’s plan to phase out mining by this month also likely caused miners to stop buying GPUs. You can now find some RTX 3090 GPUs selling for $800 to $900 on eBay, or about half their original prices.
Ethereum’s successful transition to Proof of Stake is certainly good news for anyone worried about miners buying up next-generation GPUs. NiceHash, a provider of mining software, said on Thursday: “The mining community has come to an end of an era. Ethereum was the number one ASIC-resistant coin that most GPU miners mined since 2014.”
That said, some miners are already preparing to transition to two other mine-able cryptocurrencies in Ergo and Ravencoin, according to a poll among GPU miners on Facebook. However, those coins are worth $4.90 and $0.06, respectively, making them less profitable than Ethereum, which is currently at $1,583.
Some miners have already switched to Ergo, but say mining the currency still isn't profitable due to the electricity costs.
NiceHash added: "GPU miners will switch to other algorithms and cause a significant influx of hashrate to these projects. As a result, the difficulty will increase a couple of times, and mining profitability on these coins will drop. Miners will switch between multiple coins quite often and will need to spend a lot of their (else free) time making decisions regarding what coin they are going to mine." The company also noted its own software can mine both Ergo and Ravencoin.