OKEx Pool, one of the major miners for five proof-of-work cryptocurrencies, is ready for the shift to Ethereum 2.0. The new version of the Ethereum network, envisioned for the near future, is still in the testing stage. 

Alysa Xu, Chief Strategy Officer at OKEx, commented for Coingape:

“Grateful for becoming one of the first mining pools connected with the Topaz ETH 2.0 test network, with the help of Prysmatic Labs. We firmly believe that OKEx Pool as top miner-oriented financial products would assist miners to manage their price risk and expected cash outflow via staking in the coming days. Even more, it would drastically enrich users’ stickiness to our OKEx ecosystem.” 

The Ethereum 2.0 Topaz testnet has attracted the OKEx pool as one of its supporters. Topaz went online on April 15, 2020, with the support of Prysmatic Labs. OKEx Pool immediately partnered with Prysmatic, becoming one of the validators for the testnet. After the launch of Ethereum 2.0, OKEx Pool is expected to launch immediate access to ETH staking for small-scale owners. 

Based on current readiness levels and testnet performance, the launch of Ethereum 2.0 is scheduled for the first half of 2020. Most developers expect the new staking mechanism to be ready before July. This will move the current Ethereum network from mining through GPU cards or specialized machines, and into full staking. This means blocks on Ethereum 2.0 will be produced by validators, with a minimum staking of 32 ETH. 

Currently, OKEx Pool has 151 active miners, for a total hashrate of more than 27 GH/s, out of above 192 TH/s for the entire Ethereum network. Following the launch of a staking mechanism, OKEx may start offering rewards for storing ETH within the exchange or pool wallets.

The Topaz network has continued to invite partners as validators in the past few weeks. The increased number of validators shows hopeful support for the eventual mainnet launch. Having more validators means a more secure network, with no entities capable of swaying consensus. Ethereum 2.0 will aim to preserve all the functionalities of the old network, including tokens, distributed apps and decentralized finance organizations. 

Mining, however, remains one possibility to gain ETH or other proof-of-stake coins. Mining ETH coins has remained steady in the past months, allowing both large pools and smaller operations to continue gaining block rewards. The shift to Ethereum 2.0 also means a dynamic environment for miners, who will have to constantly reassess their profitability. 

Ecosystems like Coinfly have optimized mining information for situations like the shift to Ethereum 2.0. Coinfly has gone successfully through several Ethereum hard forks, and can offer a smooth assessment of profitability. The service but pool is available for all types of equipment, offering an easy switch between different assets. Coinfly also operates its own high-performance Ethereum mining pool with Nodes on Microsoft Azure for seamless work and PPS+ payments with 0% fees. Minimum payout is 0.05 ETH, payments are made every 24 hours.

The most stable, safe, and profitable PPS Etherium pool. Nodes are in Microsoft Azure. Today we offer an outstanding opportunity to mine free of charge with 0% commission, low payout limits, no registration and etc. 

Coinfly, unlike NiceHash, does not rely on hired computer power. Instead, the service aims to return mining to any computer or machine owner. Mining has accelerated for Bitcoin ahead of the halving, and for the last few weeks of Ethereum proof-of-stake. For that reason, tracking profitability and switching to the most profitable algorithm is a unique feature available through Coinfly. Their service aggregates mining for both large and small coins, some of which are accessible to CPU mining.

Ethereum 2.0 will pose new challenges to block creators. Instead of investing in electronics, potential validators will have to hold a certain amount of ETH tokens in a process called staking. At current prices, ETH stands just above $200, a basic stake of 32 ETH would cost more than $6,400. Staking the coins will also require reliable partners. 

The OKEx Pool may become one of those partners, potentially extending Ethereum 2.0 block rewards to smaller owners. The announcement of the inevitable upgrade to Ethereum 2.0 is also helping boost the market prices of ETH, as the tokens will find increased demand in staking. With a limited supply of 110 million ETH, some tokens will be locked into staking, while others will remain locked in decentralized finance organizations. The decreased circulation and increased demand will create additional scarcity for ETH. 

Additionally, Ethereum 2.0 will generate much less new tokens. The expected rewards will be down to about 2 million per year, from current levels of 4.7 million per year. Ethereum has cut its block reward for the past few years, in an effort to phase out mining. The launch of Ethereum 2.0 is now expected to gain more supporters and popularity, as one of the biggest events in crypto for 2020.