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Ethereum Classic has reached an all-time-high hash rate of 45 terahashes per second (TH/s), having grown more than 480% year to date. Hash rate represents the amount of computing power involved in creating new blocks on its network. 

Ethereum Classic’s hash rate growth has likely resulted from increased miner activity on Ethereum Classic ahead of this month’s Ethereum upgrade — known as The Merge — from a proof of work to a proof of stake consensus mechanism. The event, planned for mid-September, will remove the need for transactions to be verified by miners.

Due to the merge, Ethereum miners, who have collectively spent billions on mining equipment over the years, may be in need for a proof-of-work blockchain that can serve as a replacement for Ethereum. Some mining pools have mulled an expansion to Ethereum Classic viewing it a viable proof-of-work alternative blockchain to Ethereum. 

In July, AntPool, a mining pool operated by mining giant Bitmain, first signaled support for Ethereum Classic and made a $10 million investment in its ecosystem.  This week another mining pool called BTC.com launched support for Ethereum Classic. 

Ethereum Classic’s hash rate is still small in comparison to Ethereum, and accounts for only 5% of Ethereum’s hash rate of roughly 895 TH/s. This means Ethereum Classic has a long way to go before it’s considered a major network for proof-of-work miners.

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