A Miner Inconvenience

March was good to miners. With Bitcoin and Ethereum still fuelling proof-of-work processing, mining is still a profitable profession. But with Ethereum’s Beacon Chain merge on the horizon, miners may be looking to prove they’re willing to work in other areas soon enough.

• Ethereum miners generated more revenue than Bitcoin miners last month. March also marked the second month in a row with positive growth since a downtrend which began in November of last year.
• Ethereum’s days as a proof-of-work bockchain are numbered, however. “The Merge” is set to take place in Q2 of this year.
• The Merge will see the current Ethereum Mainnet merge into the Beacon Chain proof-of-stake system. This will mark the end of proof-of-work for Ethereum, leaving miners high and dry.
• Ethereum’s Beacon Chain shipped December 1, 2020, parallel to Mainnet. Mainnet still runs on proof-of-work and continues to be what users access when using the Ethereum network. When the merge takes place, and Mainnet merges into Beacon, all business conducted on Ethereum will be executed on a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm.

Anticipation is high to see how the mining industry handles such a change while investors hold their breath in hopes of cheaper gas and faster transaction times.