In the autumn of 2022, Etherium is expected to switch to the Proof-of-Stake algorithm. And for many, the question of what to mine after Ethereum has become pressing.

The upgrade should solve the protocol’s key problems – lower fees, faster transactions and a more stable chain. It will not be possible to mine the cryptocurrency. However, holders of the asset will be able to earn by locking coins into the PoS protocol. Ethereum can be leaked now. To do so, 32 ETH need to be blocked. Users with small capital can use the services of stacking platforms. For example, Binance offers stacking from 0.0001 ETH. Miners, on the other hand, can switch to another coin on Ethash (Ethereum Classic, Dubaicoin). Another option is to switch to one of the popular algorithms (CryptoNight, SHA256).

This article will tell you what to mine after the transition of ether to PoS. According to 2CryptoCalc, Ethereum Classic, Ravencoin, Conflux are the most profitable in 2022.

1. What will happen to Etherium after the switch to PoS
2. Types of existing algorithms
3. What can be mined after Ethereum
4. Ravencoin
5. ETC
6. ERGO
7. Firo
8. Cortex
9. TON
10. Aeternity
11. Ethereum PoW

What will happen to Etherium after the switch to PoS

The algorithm change is scheduled for September-October 2022. The developers have been working towards this for more than 7 years. The idea of moving ETH to Proof-of-Stake was first announced in 2015. Vitalik Buterin hoped to increase the speed of transactions, reduce fees, power consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by changing the algorithm. The transition to PoS will also entail other changes in the Ethereum ecosystem:

• Launching more nodes and, as a consequence, increasing decentralisation of the blockchain. However, this may be difficult to achieve due to the high entry threshold (32 ETH). Therefore, experts expect an increase in the centralisation of the network in the first phase. The long-term effects of the PoS transition are still difficult to predict.

• Increased transaction speed. Among other benefits, it will simplify the creation, testing and hosting of dApps.

• Separating a single database and storing it as multiple sets of information. Sharding will increase transaction speed by a factor of 64.

• Increasing the risk of a “51% attack”. According to experts, in PoS, it is enough for hackers to possess a large amount of cryptocurrency to gain control of the blockchain. If resources are available, it is less time-consuming than in Proof-of-Work.

• Network security risk. In PoS, there is the potential for abuse by validators. There are penalties for transferring a bad block into the network – a participant will lose all blocked coins (at current exchange rates of $49k for 32 ETH). This should make the network more secure, but does not rule out collusion among a group of validators. Lido DAO, for example, owns 33% of ETH 2.0 coins and allows investors to participate in stacking with any amount. However, the top 100 holders of the asset own 93.1% of the company’s offering, suggesting centralisation among the validators of Ethereum.

Experts fear that the network’s decentralisation will be hindered by low stacking yields and long coin lock-ups. Investors will not be able to withdraw tokens until the new and old networks are fully merged. It is estimated that this could take up to 1.5 years.

Returns on locked-in assets on the Ethereum 2.0 network will be in the range of 1.5-15% per annum. According to blockchain developer Justin Drake, the average return on ETH stacking would be 5% per year. The low returns will be offset by the reliability of the coin and possible rate hikes.

In addition, Layer 2 networks and competing protocols (Polygon, Near) are growing in popularity due to bandwidth issues with Ethereum 1.0. Analysts believe that changes to the blockchain will allow Ethereum to reach the next level.

Types of existing algorithms

According to 2CryptoCalc, Ethereum is the most popular asset for mining in 2022. The asset is mined using the rules of Ethash (a refined version of DaggerHashimoto). Due to the need to process large amounts of data (in September 2022, the DAG file size is 5.0156GB), the algorithm requires a large amount of video memory.

Ethash is also used by other popular cryptocurrencies, including:

• Ethereum Classic (ETC)
• Ellaism (ELLA)
• Dubaicoin (DBIX)
• Callisto (CLO)

In September 2022, the digital marketplace brings together more than 20,000 assets. The table shows the main cryptocurrency algorithms. These mechanisms are used by most coins.

ALGORITHM	DATE OF CREATION (YEAR)	COMMENT
SHA256	2008	The first blockchain consensus mechanism is used for Bitcoin, Terracoin, BitcoinCash. SHA256 is demanding on hardware speed, video memory is not important.
CryptoNight	2012	This protocol is used to mine anonymous cryptocurrencies (Haven, DigitalNote, Electroneum, Bytecoin). Video cards and processors with high-speed cache are used for mining. This increases the decentralisation of the network.
Equihash	2016	Equihash puts a heavy load on the video memory and GPU. ZCash, Bitcoin Private and Bitgem run on Equihash.
Scrypt	2011	The protocol also puts a strain on memory, so it is only profitable to mine on asics. The algorithm is used in Litecoin, Mooncoin.

What can be mined after Ethereum

In 2022, ETH is being mined on video cards and asics. Owners of integrated circuits can mine the coins on the Ethash algorithm. The most popular replacement for Ethereum is Ethereum Classic. This asset was advised to be mined by Vitalik Buterin at a conference in July 2022.

Video card owners have a choice – they can switch to another lucrative asset. In 2022, many miners work in multipools, which automatically shift capacity to mine the most profitable cryptocurrency.

Ravencoin

Ravencoin is one of the most popular coins for mining in 2022. This is due to its low hardware requirements (even cards with 4GB of video memory can be used) and its relative stability. The digital currency Ravencoin was launched in 2018 as a hardforward of bitcoin. The asset has the following characteristics:

• The block creation time is 1 minute.

• The issue is 21 billion RVN (a thousand times more than BTC).

• The current reward per block is 5 thousand RVN. Every 4 years the income of miners is halved as a result of halving.

• The asset can only be mined on video cards.

Developers of the coin support decentralisation of the network by taking measures to protect against ASICs. The cryptocurrency originally ran on the X16R and X16Rv2 algorithms, with a switch to KawPoW in 2020.

ETC

Ethereum Classic is the original ethereum. In 2016, the coin broke away from the main network after a hardforward. After a series of ‘51% attacks’, some developers deemed Ethash’s algorithm insecure. Changes were made to increase decentralisation – for example, the DAG file size was halved. ETC can therefore be mined after Ethereum on legacy hardware. “Attack 51%” has become more costly.

In 2022, the coin can be bought on major platforms, including:

• Binance
• KuCoin
• Currency
• HitBtc
• Bithumb and others

Best Crypto Exchanges of August 2022

Its high popularity allows ETCs to be converted with minimal fees into fiat and other coins. Experts call Ethereum Classic the main alternative to ether. In September 2022, trading in the coin exceeds $0.9 billion per day. According to MiningPoolStats, more than 90,000 users mine ETCs.

ERGO

ERGO is attractive to miners due to its stable exchange rate, listing on major exchanges and the ability to simultaneously mine two coins (ETH+ERGO, ERGO+ZIL).

ERGO runs on the Autolykos2 algorithm, which has lower power consumption than Ethash. The asset can be mined on 3GB video cards.

Firo

Initially, the cryptocurrency worked according to MTP (Merkle Tree Proof) rules. This algorithm required 5GB of RAM. Miners spent a lot of internet traffic to mine the asset, as the balloon size was 200Kb (hundreds of times larger than other cryptocurrencies). In 2021, the developers changed the mechanism.

Firo is a modified version of ProgPoW, created specifically for ethereum. but never implemented. The algorithm is almost identical to KawPoW (Ravencoin), differing only in the size of the DAG file. In the autumn of 2022, Firo requires 4GB of RAM to mine. It is estimated that the DAG file will increase by 1GB every 1.5 years. By 2024, Firo mining on a video card will not be available.

Cortex

The digital currency works according to the CuckooCortex consensus rules. The mining speed is strongly influenced by the amount of GPU memory. Owners of top-end Nvidia cards have an advantage.

The price of Cortex and the complexity of the network can fluctuate greatly even within a day. Therefore, the asset is popular in multipools. Miners switch equipment to CTXC for short periods of time when the complexity decreases or the price rises.

The CuckooCortex protocol is unique because of its ability to change the energy efficiency of mining. The algorithm requires a large amount of GPU memory to operate. Typically, miners use the Linux operating system because of the lower RAM consumption for service tasks and more flexible settings. CTXC mining requires a minimum of 8GB on Linux and 10GB on Windows 10.

TON

The project was created by Pavel Durov’s team. However, due to SEC conditions, the development had to be ceded to Open Source. In 2022, the coin is being developed by the TON Foundation community.

The cryptocurrency blockchain is based on a unique technology. Transactions are validated according to PoS rules, but the distribution of coins was originally based on the PoW algorithm. The blockchain housed smart contracts that allowed participants to mine the asset. This approach is called IPoW. Its main advantage is a fairer distribution of resources.

However, smart-coin mining is not endless. In June 2022, the balance of available coins on the TON network went to zero. Now only validators can receive new assets. This requires more than 600,000 TON ($1.1 million) on their balance sheet.

Aeternity

The cryptocurrency launched in 2017. The creators of Aeternity (AE) focus on smart contracts and increasing scalability to interact with the real world. On the platform, any user can create decentralised, high-bandwidth applications.

According to 2CryptoCalc, AE is the third most profitable in September 2022, after ETH and RVN. The cryptocurrency uses a hybrid consensus mechanism, Cuckoo Cycle Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake. Aeternity mining is powered by RoW. Miners receive a dynamic reward that depends on the height of the block. Current values can be found on the developers’ website.

The consensus algorithm is demanding in terms of video memory – a minimum of 4GB is required for mining. Nvidia GPUs have an advantage. Asics and processors are not suitable for mining. AE is traded on major exchanges (OKX, Binance, KuCoin).

Ethereum PoW

There is a possibility that after the transition of Ethereum to the new network, the old one will exist as a separate chain. Therefore, miners will have to continue working to maintain it. This has already been stated by ETH major miner Chandler Goh.

However, even if Ethereum RoW does exist, its functionality will be severely limited. While exchanges and pools (e.g. Woolypooly) are willing to support the initiative, stackcoin issuers (USDT, USDC) have refused to work with the old network.