After The Merge, the popular DeFi exchange Coinbase might think about adding proof-of-work (PoW) Ethereum Fork tokens. The crypto community had a lot to say about Ethereum’s plan to switch from the energy-intensive proof-of-work system to the more efficient proof-of-stake (PoS) system. Should exchanges offer coins from a possible Ethereum fork chain with proof-of-work? Or should the community give up on the protocol that doesn’t work?
Coinbase on PoW Ethereum fork tokens
In a recent blog post, Coinbase said that PoW has a lot of supporters in the cryptocurrency world, even though it uses a lot of energy. So, if a PoW fork chain comes up and enough people want to buy it, Coinbase will think about adding it.
“Our goal at Coinbase is to list all assets that are legal and safe to list,” the post says. “Should an ETH PoW fork happen after The Merge, this asset will be looked at just as carefully as any other asset on our exchange,”
Binance decided to consider adding hard-forked tokens after Coinbase did the same. It looks like most of the big DeFi exchanges are fine with listing any PoW forked coins that meet their requirements.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Vuterin on PoW forks
Early in June, Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote on Twitter that he doesn’t think proof-of-work should be banned. “It’s not a good idea for the government to pick and choose which uses of electricity are okay or not,” he wrote. Then, in early August, he talked about it again at ETHSeoul.
Buterin says that because of Ethereum Classic, there won’t be much of a need for a PoW Ethereum fork (ETC). ETC is a hard fork that happened early on in Ethereum’s history. After The Merge, it will always be a proof-of-work alternative. The co-founder of Ethereum said that people who support ETHW, a new proposed PoW Ethereum fork chain, just want to “make a quick buck.”
