The Anti-ASIC Revolt: Just How Far Will Crypto's Hardware War Go?

Designed specifically to enable operators to earn a greater share of their networks' rewards, "Application specific integrated circuits," or ASICs, have emerged to mine a handful of cryptocurrencies that were previously only able to be secured by those using GPU hardware.

Stepping back, it's important to unpack just what occurs during the "Mining process," a somewhat complex phrase that denotes the practice by which anyone can theoretically devote spare computer hardware toward running and securing blockchain networks.

Ethereum, monero and zcash can all be mined today with GPU hardware, graphics cards sold at major computing stores and that are available for only a few hundred dollars.

A miner going by the handle "Fpbitmine," for example, went so far as to accuse zcash creator Zooko Wilcox of not doing enough to support those who have invested in helping the network gain value.

"ASIC mining acceptance would mean that every single miner that has supported the zcash network will be displaced and forced to either switch coins or invest in new hardware."

Many miners are threatening to take their hardware elsewhere or else create alternate versions of the cryptocurrencies they're already mining, something they can freely do by cloning the codebase.

"We are sad to see news of possible ASICs being created for ethereum. We believe that it is time to take a stand against monopolised mining," it said.

While a zcash miner warned on a forum that "There are consequences" for a crypto that fails to keep out ASICs, zcash founder Zooko Wilcox told CoinDesk that he believes forking away from ASICs "Could even do more harm than good."

Speaking to ethereum developer's interest in eliminating mining, Stumpf said, "Mining was always doomed from the start; it is just a ticking difficulty bomb waiting to explode."

"Maybe instead we should work on some other solution, such as switching to proof-of-stake, or getting major hardware companies like Nvidia and Huawei to sell hardware miners to anyone."