As a reminder, the final transition of the main Etherium network to Proof-of-Stake or Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm should take place in the second half of September 2022. To be more precise, we are talking about the week commencing on Monday 19 September. This is the timeframe the developers of the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation have been targeting.

During the transition to PoS, the network will split into two chains. The new one will be based on the already mentioned Proof of Ownership algorithm, while the creation of epochs and slots – i.e. blocks – in it will be handled by validators.

You can already observe what's happening in the current PoS network of Etherium called the Beacon Chain. A dedicated blockchain observer will help.

Beacon Chain blockchain observer

Logically, the old PoW network should die, but if cryptocurrency miners continue to support this blockchain, then it will continue to work. Accordingly, exchanges would then be able to support trading of the two assets – from the PoW- and PoS-network of Ethereum respectively.

Will there be an Ethereum fork?

Last month, a campaign for an altcoin fork was launched by Chandler Guo, a prominent member of the blockchain community. If his campaign succeeds, the altcoin blockchain will split, resulting in a new coin called ETHW – from the name of the PoW algorithm. Of course, all of this is still speculation, but traders on BitMEX will be able to place their bets on the future price of the PoW token very soon.

According to Decrypt’s sources, BitMEX representatives have warned that the product is “highly speculative” due to the fact that ETHPOW does not yet exist and may never exist at all. There is also a high probability of auto-deleveraging, which exchanges use when a position is closed when the capital is negative and the insurance fund is unable to cover losses.

The relevant news from the platform was published on Twitter.

The contract supports up to 2x leverage, and at least initially will operate on a Last Price Mark method. Over time, it could be changed to the more common "Fair Price" method when enough information has been gathered to create an index of the instrument.

Details of the EthPoW contract

What does it mean? BitMEX has hinted that trading the new token on margin, i.e. borrowing from the exchange, is highly likely to result in a loss of capital for the trader. Therefore, listing should be treated with extreme caution: even if users are willing to bet on a fork, only a small part of their portfolio should be allocated for this purpose.

Chainlink, on the other hand, is not ready to support hypothetical forks, according to CryptoPotato. A statement to that effect appeared on the project’s website with the following quote.

Users should be aware that Ethereum blockchain forks, including PoW forks, will not be supported by the Chainlink protocol. This is in line with the public consensus decision of the Ethereum Foundation and the altcoin community to migrate the Ethereum blockchain to PoS.

As a reminder, Chainlink is the largest oracle in the cryptocurrency industry. It is a platform that ensures that data is correctly transferred from the real world to the blockchain. Chainlink also ensures that the rates of various cryptocurrencies on exchanges and other platforms are up to date, which prevents fraudsters from damaging companies by manipulating the value of coins. In other words, Chainlink is an extremely important part of the blockchain world. Though it is certainly not the only oracle in the niche.

Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov

Accordingly, at least in this respect, a possible PoW fork of Etherium would have less advanced functionality. Earlier, Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino made it clear that USDT would only exist based on Eth’s PoS network. So in the end, it will be the popular companies that will determine how big the alternative chain’s potential will be.


Given what is happening, we think the prospects for the continued existence of the PoW network of Etherium are quite clear. Obviously, miners will support this version of the blockchain, so it will probably continue. Exchanges will be happy to see this happen, as they will receive additional trading volumes and commissions. However, the situation for large companies like Stablecoin and Oracle issuers is more serious. However, new projects could take their place.