MinerGate Adds Support for Mining Ethereum Classic

Minergate, a mining pool and the developer of GUI mining  software that supports mining of various cryptocurrencies including  Bitcoin and Ethereum, is including support for Ethereum classic, the  blockchain based on the original Ethereum platform’s consensus before  the hard fork. Although the original Ethereum blockchain was officially abandoned  following a hard fork that was triggered as a result of the DAO attack, a  group of community members have since come together to implement the  Ethereum blockchain’s original consensus. The project, known  as Ethereum Classic, was announced last week. While it gained scarce  support initially, a move by Poloniex – Ethereum token ether’s largest  exchange – to add support to the Ethereum Classic blockchain (ETC or  ETHC) is more validation for those who opposed the hard fork.  Cryptocurrency mining pool MinerGate is among them. In an announcement communicated to CCN today, MinerGate revealed that it will enable mining support for Ethereum Classic. 

The decision was made out of a deep conviction that  Ethereum could thrive without manual actions [the hardfork] in the first  place, as officially stated  by our CEO . Having this in mind, MinerGate couldn’t miss the  opportunity to encourage the development of the untouched original  Ethereum blockchain.

A day prior to the hard fork last week, MinerGate CEO Claude Lecomte  had stated that the fork endangered Ethereum on three levels, further  explained here. “I personally do not support the hard fork proposal,” Lecomte stated.  “This proposal washes away the idea of the irreversibility of smart  contracts and interferes with core technology. “ Despite his disagreement, the chief executive added that MinerGate  wasn’t voting against the hard fork in the interests of the technology’s  development, while adding that the pool was “forced” to move to the  winning chain. Support for Bitcoin Classic will be seen across the MinerGate’s GUI and GPU-centric miners. 

Bitfinex to Add ETC 

Beyond Poloniex, another major exchange will also begin support for  ETC. A representative of Hong Kong-based digital assets exchange  Bitfinex has confirmed that it will be adding an ETC trading pair, with a formal announcement due soon. It remains to be seen if other major exchanges will follow suit  during a contentious period for Ethereum and its blockchain platforms.  Yesterday, prominent Chinese cryptocurrency miner Chandler Guo declared  that he would initiate a 51% attack  on the Ethereum Classic. Guo is an investor in BW.com, a mining pool  among Ethereum’s largest. Since then, a representative for BW has  distanced the mining pool from Guo’s comments. 

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