Sparkpool Shuttering Sends Shudders

SparkPool, the second largest Ethereum mining pool, will close its doors by September 30. At this writing, PoolWatch.io says Hangzhou-based SparkPool is responsible for ~122.5 TH/s (roughly 18.5%) of all Ethereum mining.

Will this loss of computational power impact “gas fees” (the price miners charge to mine ETH)?

Right now, ETH is trading at $2,902.29, and the Ethereum Gas Tracker shows gas fees hovering around 61 Gwei (about $3.41). (Gas fees have been bouncing between 30-80 Gwei for the past week or so, and — in case you are wondering — 1 Gwei = 0.000000001 ETH, the smallest amount of ETH you can transact with.) Right now, the impact of the SparkPool announcement is unclear.

Importantly, Ethereum plans to move away from mining in 2022 as it rolls out Ethereum 2.0 and its new Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. Today’s safety tip: as always, check the gas fees before you do an ETH transaction.

Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it.

About Shelly Palmer

Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.

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