What is EthereumPoW (ETHW)?

Deep Dive

1. Purpose & Value Proposition

ETHW emerged as a community-led hard fork of Ethereum during its 2022 Merge upgrade. It aimed to preserve proof-of-work (PoW) mining, which Ethereum abandoned in favor of proof-of-stake (PoS). Supporters view PoW as more decentralized and resistant to regulatory interference, contrasting with PoS’s perceived centralization via large stakers (CoinMarketCap).

2. Technology & Architecture

ETHW replicates Ethereum’s pre-Merge codebase with minor adjustments:
- Difficulty Bomb Disabled: Prevents automatic mining difficulty spikes.
- EIP-1559 Rewards to Miners: Transaction fee burns are redirected to miners instead of being destroyed.
It remains compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), allowing developers to port existing decentralized apps (dApps) with minimal effort (ETHW FAQs).

3. Tokenomics & Governance

• Native Token: ETHW is the chain’s base currency, not an ERC-20 token.
• Supply: Mirrors Ethereum’s pre-Merge supply (≈107.8M ETHW). Holders of ETH before the Merge received ETHW via a 1:1 airdrop.
• Governance: Decentralized, with anonymous core contributors emphasizing community-driven decisions (ETHW Core).

Conclusion

ETHW represents a ideological fork prioritizing PoW’s decentralized ethos over Ethereum’s PoS shift. While its ecosystem supports Ethereum-native tools, its long-term viability hinges on sustaining developer and miner participation. Can ETHW carve a niche as a “purist” Ethereum alternative, or will it fade as PoS dominates?