The Co-founder of Bitamain, Jihan Wu said the ASIC miners are capable to make blockchain networks such as Ethereum (ETH) more decentralized and safe when compared to GPU hardware. It is contrary to the views of crypto community. He expressed doubts about ProgPow Upgrade of Ethereum while delivering a speech in Chongqing, China during an event on blockchain. Progressive Corp (NYSE:PGR) Proof of work upgrade or ProgPow gives more emphasis to the GPU mining when compared to ASIC mining by alerting the algorithm. He is present at the event to discuss decentralization and proof-of work concept.
ASIC Miners
The powerful processors – ASIC Miners are developed to handle complex algorithms. They are more powerful when compared to the graphic processing units (GPUs), which are general purpose and designed for cryptocurrency mining. The Ethereum Community responded with a positive voting in favor of the ProgPow upgrade. The date for its activation is not set yet since time is required for validating the code. If activated, it will have a positive impact on the mining rewards of Ethereum, the annual market for which is estimated at more than $600.
Key Personnel reports to NVIDIA
According to Jihan, the centralized Ethereum network that comprises two mining pools – Ethermine and Sparkpool controls half of the computing power of the network. Jihan alleged that some key personnel engaged in ProgPow proposal reports directly to NVIDIA’s Chief Executive Officer. NVIDIA is engaged in the manufacture of GPU hardware that has significant market share.
NVIDIA protects GPU hardware with several patents. Custom made algorithm for this hardware prevents competition. ProgPow is an attempt to achieve centralization and prevent other participation of other IC makers in Ethereum mining. Jihan further said if Ethereum shifts completely to proof of stake, it creates a complete centralized network.
Bitmain has introduced Ethereum ASIC Miner in April 2018. The company owns 70% of the market share of crypto mining equipment worldwide. Bitmain also sued one of the competitors for IP infringement after securing a patent for the design of ASIC miner equipment. However, the Chinese local court has dismissed the plea and resulted in the patent revocation of Bitmain.
