ETHPOW

Ethereum fork token ETHPoW climbs 150% after smart contract hack — A fakeout rally?

ETHPoW’s hash rate and total value locked have risen significantly during its latest bull run.

ETHW has logged a significant price rebound despite its blockchain network, ETHPoW, suffering a smart contract hack in the first week after its launch.

Bull trap risks surround ETHW market

ETHW rebounded more than 150% eight days after the attack and traded for around $10.30 on Sept. 27.

Fundamentally, this suggests that traders ignored the hack and trusted ETHPoW’s long-term viability as a blockchain project.

But from a technical perspective, the ETHW price rally has accompanied weaker trading volumes. In other words, fewer traders have been involved in the pumping of the ETHPoW token’s price in the past eight days, as the Bitfinex exchange data shows in the chart below.

ETHW/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

The growing divergence between ETHW’s rising prices and falling trading volumes suggests that traders’ interest in the ETHPoW token has been dwindling. In other words, ETHW’s price risks a sharp correction in the coming days.

Related: Dogecoin becomes second largest PoW cryptocurrency

This “bearish divergence” setup is supported by a descending trendline that has served as resistance for ETHW since Sept. 2. 

On the four-hour chart below, traders have shown their likelihood of dumping their ETHW positions near the said resistance. Moreover, even the token’s latest pullback move on Sept. 27 has originated near the same trendline, raising the possibility of an extended price correction.

ETHW/USD four-hour price chart. Source: TradingView

As a result, ETHW’s short-term technical bias is skewed toward the bears. So, if its correction extends, the PoW token risks falling into the $8–$9 price range, which also coincides with ascending trendline support, or a 25% drop from current price levels.

ETHPoW hash rate recovers

On a brighter note, the ETHPoW’s network hash rate has recovered significantly since the smart contract hack, rising from 29.44 TH/s on Sept. 19 to 48.48 TH/s on Sep. 27. Although, the current hash rate is still down about 40% from its record high of 79.42 TH/s.

ETHPoW hash rate performance since launch. Source: 2miners.com

Still, a rising hash rate means more miners have joined the ETHPoW network after its split from the Ethereum proof-of-stake (PoS) chain on Sept. 15. In theory, it should ensure better protection against potential 51% attacks. 

Simultaneously, ETHPoW has witnessed a growth in its network’s total valued locked (TVL). As of Sept. 27, ETHPoW had 66,548 ETHW deposited across four decentralized exchanges functioning atop its blockchain compared to nearly 38,000 ETHW three days prior, or a 75% increase in the last three days.

ETHPoW TVL as of Sep. 27, 2022. Source: Defi Llama

Interestingly, UniWswap, a fork of the Ethereum blockchain-based decentralized exchange Uniswap, comprises more than 50% of the ETHPoW chain’s TVL.

DApps functional atop ETHPoW chain. Source: Defi Llama

Other DApps include PoWSea, a nonfungible token ( marketplace, as well as exchanges PoWSwap and HipPoWSwap.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Does Ethereum’s new ETHPoW fork stand a chance? ETHW price falls 65% post-Merge

Nonetheless, ETHPoW is gaining adoption among top mining pools and crypto exchanges.

ETHPoW, a separatist proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain forked from Ethereum’s Merge, went live on Sept. 15. However, the chain suffered technical issues after the launch, which put downward pressure on its ETHW token. 

ETHW price down 65% amid “ChainID” fiasco

The price of ETHW has dropped by 65% since ETHPoW’s launch to around $14 on Sept. 16, according to CoinMarketCap. At its lowest, the token was changing hands for $9.50.

ETHW price performance in the past seven days. Source: CoinMarketCap

The losses coincided with a technical issue related to ETHPoW’s ChainID.

ChainIDs are identifiers that help users identify one blockchain from another. Thus, ETHPoW required a new ChainID to separate its transaction data from the original Ethereum blockchain after the Merge, otherwise, it risked creating duplicate transactions.

The team behind ETHPoW announced on Sept. 15 that its unique ChainID is 10001. However, data from Chainlist shows that a cryptocurrency project called Smart Bitcoin Cash, operating under the ticker BCHT, has the same ID. This issue resulted in errors on the MetaMask cryptocurrency wallet.

The ETHPoW recognized the issue and adjusted the ChainID later on Sept. 15. However, several miners appeared to have pulled out despite a few major pools continuing to mine the PoW chain.

Notably, the ETHPoW hash rate fell to 66.64 TH/s on Sept. 16 after peaking at 80.56 TH/s earlier in the day.

ETHPoW hashrate as of Sept. 16, 2022. Source: 2miners.com

In comparison, the hash rate of Ethereum Classic (ETC), another PoW alternative for Ethereum miners, was 234.56 TH/s on Sept. 16 versus its peak near 310.5 TH/s the day before.

ETHW listed on some exchanges despite concerns

Eric Wall, the chief investment officer at cryptocurrency investment firm Arcane Assets, noted that ETHPoW miners could not sustain the chain at current ETHW prices. He explained:

“The daily rewards are 13100 ETH, $354k instead of $20m. There is no way miners can just “keep mining” the ETHPoW chain, no matter how you adjust the difficulty. There simply aren’t enough rewards in the system to pay for the electricity bills.”

Related: Dogecoin becomes second largest PoW cryptocurrency

Nevertheless, ETHW was listed at some leading cryptocurrency exchanges, including FTX and Huobi. In addition, BitTrue has also introduced an ETHW-based liquidity staking service that offers depositors a 6% annual return.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Ethereum’s potential fork ETHPOW has crashed 80% since debut — More pain ahead?

A recent report has narrowed ETHPOW’s downside target to $18 if the token ever comes to life post-Merge.

The listing of ETHPOW (ETHW) across multiple crypto exchanges has been followed by a huge drop in price despite some initial success. 

ETHPOW drops 80% 

On the daily chart, ETHW’s price dropped by more than 80% to $25 on Sept. 10, over a month after its market debut.

ETHW/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

For starters, ETHPOW only exists as a futures ticker, for now, conceived in anticipation that an upcoming network update on Ethereum could result in a chain split.

Ethereum will undergo a major protocol change called the Merge by mid-September, switching its existing consensus mechanism from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS).

Therefore, Ethereum will obsolete its army of miners, replacing them with “validators,” which are nodes that would perform the same tasks by merely staking a certain amount of tokens with the network.

As a result, current Ethereum miners will be forced to migrate to other PoW chains or shut down. Ethereum Classic (ETC), which carries the original Ethereum PoW code, has benefited the most by becoming a haven for such miners. 

For instance, the chart below shows Ethereum Classic’s hashrate rising and Ethereum’s hash rate dropping in the days leading up to the Merge.

Ethereum Classic vs. Ethereum hash rate. Source: CoinWarz

But Ethereum Classic may not be the only option for ETH miners. 

Chandler Guo, one of the most prominent crypto miners, has proposed that miners continue to validate and add blocks to the current PoW Ethereum chain post-Merge. This so-called contentious hard fork would keep the current Ethereum PoW chain alive, which Guo and supporters have termed ETHPOW.

And just as the Ethereum blockchain has its native coin in Ether (ETH), the new ETHPOW chain will have its asset called ETHW. Anybody holding ETH ahead of the Merge will receive an equal amount of ETHW after the potential chain split.

Related: Ethereum Merge can trigger high volatility, BitMEX CEO warns

However, given the significant downside risk of ETHPOW, traders appear to be more comfortable holding ETH, enabling them to receive ETHW as well should a chain split occur.

In addition, decreasing ETHW price may also suggest that traders are betting that an Ethereum chain split is becoming less likely.

Paradigm report cast another bearish blow on ETHW

In a report published Sept. 1, crypto investment firm Paradigm argues that the cost of one ETHW token should not be more than $18 after launch. That is nearly 90% below the token’s record high of $198, established on Aug. 9.

The firm cited backwardation, when futures trade lower than the spot prices, in the Ethereum Sept. 30 futures contracts as the reason behind its $18-price target for ETHPOW.

The report highlights that some exchanges, including FTX and Deribit, will measure the rates of their ETH futures/perpetual contracts by referencing Ethereum’s PoS version.

And since the ETH futures price now trades at an $18 discount compared to spot prices, the ETHPOW token could draw at least an $18 valuation upon the potential fork.

FTX Ether futures basis. Source: Coinglass

“We can infer how much the market estimates ETH PoW will be worth from simply looking at spot-future basis, since spot = POS + POW, while future is just POS,” the report explained, adding:

“Currently, the basis is implying ETH PoW to be priced ~$18, which is ~1.5% of ETH market cap.”

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

What the fork? Ethereum’s potential forked ETHW token is trading under $100

A non-difficulty bomb ETHW chain could grab 2%–10% of Ethereum’s market capitalization, crypto hedge fund manager says.

An Ethereum fork token that does not yet exist, dubbed ETHW, is trading under $100 across several crypto exchanges after debuting at $30. 

ETHW and ETHS begin trading 

ETHW is the native asset to the ETHPoW chain. ETHPoW, for now, is a possible new chain backed by proof-of-work (PoW) miners as the original chain switches to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus in September’s “Merge” event.

Meanwhile, the proof-of-stake version ETHS is trading at around $1,600 or the difference between the ETH price and the ETHW price. 

As a result of this potential chain split, anyone holding a certain number of the original chain’s Ether (ETH) will automatically receive an equal amount of ETHW tokens. Such speculations have prompted some exchanges to list ETHW for trading in advance.

For instance, Poloniex announced support for both ETHW, as well as ETHS, the PoS chain token, listed for trading against Ether.

Crypto exchange MEXC Global and Gate.io have also listed ETHW and ETHS on its platform. Concurrently, OKX CEO Jay Hao has committed that they would list the newly forked Ethereum coins if there is “sufficient demand” for them among traders.

Crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX also launched Tether-margined contracts for ETHW, creating more room for price speculation ahead of the token’s potential inception post Merge.

ETHW trading at how much?

ETHW debuted on Poloniex and MEXC Global on Aug. 8 at around $30 per token. On the same day, it rallied 333% to $130 before correcting to approximately $100 on Aug. 9. Trading volume was stable throughout the period.

ETHW/USD hourly price chart. Source: MEXC Global

Will ETHPoW survive?

Forked chains seldom survive, mainly due to a lack of support from app developers, miners and promoters. Nonetheless, some projects have witnessed reasonable adoption by users and miners alike (e.g. Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic).

Notably, Hongcai “Chandler” Guo, a San Francisco-based angel investor in Bitcoin and Ethereum startups, has emerged as the main backer of ETHPoW. He claims he has a team of 60 developers working on getting rid of the so-called “difficulty bomb,” a software tool designed to force the PoW-to-PoS transition.

Related: F2Pool co-founder responds to allegations it’s cheating the Ethereum POW system

On the other hand, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin called fork supporters “a couple of outsiders” that own crypto exchanges and “want to make a quick buck.”

He reasserted that Ethereum miners already have a PoW alternative in Ethereum Classic, the original version of Ethereum, noting that it has “a superior community and superior product for people pro-proof-of-work.” 

Ethereum Classic (ETC) has rallied nearly 150% since the Merge’s announcement on July 14.

ETC/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

Meanwhile, a non-difficulty bomb version of ETHW could grab 2%–10% of Ethereum’s market capitalization, said Kevin Zhou, the co-founder of Galois Capital, a crypto hedge fund.

He explains that Ethereum could split into at least three chains after the Merge: ETHW (without the difficulty bomb), ETHW (with the difficulty bomb) and ETHS.

Zhou warned about potential liquidations in the Ethereum forked token markets but admitted that the tokens could survive at lower prices.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.