Ethereum the most popular altcoin in the crypto space has experienced a spike in it’s hashrate in recent days.
According to data from Glassnode, Ethereum network has managed to increase it’s hashrate by about 27% since the start of 2020.
The latest numbers reveal that the blockchain has attained it’s highest hashrate levels in seven months at close to 180TH/s. This increase in hashrate has been attributed to the reaction of it’s community ahead of the upcoming release of the Ethereum 2.0 update.
Ethereum 2.0 Will Usher in Proof-of-stake protocol
Ethereum 2.0 upgrade is an event that is widely anticipated within the crypto community. The update is expected to usher in the Proof-of-stake consensus protocol.
Ethereum like Bitcoin uses the proof-of-work protocol that relies on miners to ensure that the network remains strong by contributing their computing power.
With the impending move to Proof-of-stake protocol Ethereum is expected to be more scalable and offer new features within it’s network.
It is expected that Ethereum 2.0 would exist alongside Ethereum 1.0 chain until it eventually takes over the ecosystem.
The recent spike in hashrate is still a far distance from it’s all time high which occurred in August 2018 where it hit about 296TH/s. This was before the coin hit a sharp bearish point during the crypto winter.
Steadier than Bitcoin
Ethereum hashrate has been fairly consistent when compared to Bitcoin. After the recent dip in price on March 12 few miners left the network which is in contrast to Bitcoin whose hashrate dropped by 23% following the market collapse.
The highly publicized Halving could also have contributed to Bitcoin hashrate reducing with miners rewards cut by half.
ETH meanwhile has enjoyed a recent bullish trend with its price up by around 23%, in the last two weeks. As of press time ETH is valued at $245 with a 24 hour gain of around 2% to the dollar.
