Ethereum Classic Network Hashrate
Network Data
What the Ethereum Classic network hashrate measures
The network hashrate is the total computing power all miners worldwide apply to the Ethereum Classic network. It is mined with the Etchash algorithm - GPU-heavy, though specialised ASICs such as the Antminer E11 series are now also used. A rising hashrate means more competition for the same block reward - earnings per unit of hashrate decline; a falling hashrate works the other way round. Next to the coin price, the hashrate is therefore the most important network metric for miners; it is also a measure of chain security, since any attack becomes more expensive as total hashrate rises.
Difficulty: the control mechanism
Difficulty defines how hard it is to find a valid block, and it continuously adjusts to the network hashrate to keep the block rate stable. Hashrate and difficulty therefore move in lockstep - switch between both metrics in the chart above to see the relationship directly.
The Ethereum split and its effect on the hashrate
Ethereum Classic emerged in 2016 from a split of the Ethereum network and stuck to the proof-of-work principle. When Ethereum switched to proof of stake in 2022 and no longer needed mining, a substantial share of the GPU hashrate previously used for Ethereum migrated to Ethereum Classic - a clearly visible effect in this chain's historical hashrate curve.
ECIP-1017: the "Fifthening" instead of a halving
Ethereum Classic has no classic halving. Under ECIP-1017, the block reward instead decreases by 20 percent every 5 million blocks - referred to in the ecosystem as the "Fifthening". For miners this means a gradual but much less frequent reduction than with coins that adjust monthly or annually. You can model the effect of a reduction stage on earnings in the Ethereum Classic mining calculator.
History: data going back to 2016
Cryptohall24's records go back to 2016, the year Ethereum and Ethereum Classic split. Since then the dataset grows by one data point per day from our own monitoring - the charts above show the full history with a freely selectable time range, including the visible hashrate increase after Ethereum's switch to proof of stake in 2022.