Miners flee PoW tokens as token prices tank, GPU value flounders

Crypto miners who initially flocked to GPU-compatible proof-of-work tokens after the Ethereum (ETH) Merge are fleeing those networks after the value of their tokens fell, according to available data.

Ethereum Classic

Ethereum Classic (ETC) has seen its hash rate drop to 157.51TH/s after peaking at 303.7 TH/s on the day after the merge — Sept. 15–  according to data from 2miners.

According to 2miners data, ETC mining difficulty has fallen to 2.06P from over 2.5P post-merge.

ETC’s price rally also appears to be over as the asset has shed most of its gains over the previous weeks. Since Ethereum’s merge, ETC has shed 26% of its value.

Over the last 24 hours, the asset is down 3%, trading for $28.22 –a far cry from its value during the run into the merge.

Ravencoin

Another PoW token that attracted several miners post-merge was Ravencoin (RVN).

RVN saw its network hashrate rise from around 3 TH/s on Sept. 9 to over 22 TH/s by Sept. 17. However, that figure has now fallen to 15.09 TH/s as of press time.

The network’s mining difficulty has dropped to 208.47K from over 300K.

RVN’s price has mirrored the decline in its hashrate and mining difficulty. According to CryptoSlate data, the token has shed roughly 46% of its value since the merge.

Over the last 24 hours, RVN has lost 6.23% of its value.

Ergo

Ergo (ERG) is the worst hit as its mining hashrate tanked roughly 91%. According to 2miners data, Ergo’s hashrate peaked at 303.41TH/s on Sept. 15. However, that figure has steadily declined to 27.90 TH/s as of press time.

Its network mining difficulty is currently 16.61P after peaking at 21.67P on Sept. 17.

Its price has also had a similar performance. After peaking at $5.21 on Sept. 15, it has shed 37.3% of its value to trade at $2.64 as of press time.

Ethereum POW

Ethereum proof-of-work token has also seen its mining hashrate drop after the merge. According to 2miners data, ETHPOW hashrate is currently at 47.16TH/s. The network’s hashrate peaked at 79.42TH/s on Sept. 15.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that ETHPOW’s hashrate is steadily gaining ground as the network sees more uses. According to OKLink data, the network blockchain has processed 1.7 billion transactions since its launch.

However, ETHPOW’s value has been downward since Sept. 15, when it traded for $51.5. The token has sold for as low as $5.31 before slightly recovering to $9.51, according to Coingecko data.

GPU price tanks in China

Reports have revealed that the value of GPUs has dropped by as much as 40% in China since the Ethereum merge.

According to the report, when Ethereum was still a proof-of-work token, the demand for high-end graphic cards such as the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and 3090 was high, which pushed the retail value of these GPUs up.

However, since the merge, demand for these components has considerably dried up, especially as the value of other tokens the GPUs could mine was significantly lower. Meanwhile, gamers have seen this drop as a gain as they can get these GPUs at more affordable rates.