Shortly after The Merge was successfully implemented on the Ethereum (ETH) network, the Ethereum Classic (ETC) hash rate jumped more than 300% in a single day. The rate jumped from 64 terahashes per second (TH/s) to just over 273 TH/s on Thursday (15).

The sharp increase comes as ETH miners leave the Ethereum network, which has switched to using the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, and migrate to the ETC network.

Ethereum Classic (ETC) Hash Rate
The Ethereum Classic hash rate is a calculated numeric value that specifies an estimate of how many hashes are being generated by Ethereum Classic miners trying to solve the current Ethereum Classic block or any other block.

The calculation uses the current mining difficulty and the average Ethereum Classic block time between blocks mined versus the set block time as variables to determine the overall hash rate of the Ethereum Classic network.

In addition to the daily increase, the hash rate of the Ethereum Classic network has been rising for days now. In the last month alone, the rate has seen a growth of nearly 500%, according to data from the 2Miners mining pool.
As mentioned, Ethereum Classic’s hash rate peaked shortly after the successful implementation of The Merge. Now, with the update, the ETH network stops using Proof of Work and thus no longer requires miners and their computing power.

Instead, it only demands that validators “block” 32 ETH in a smart contract to confirm each new block and receive rewards for it.

However, it is also possible to receive staking rewards with less ETH by participating in a staking pool.

It was already expected that The Merge would force miners to look for other networks to perform the activity. And the most highly rated was the ETC network.
In the coming days, there should probably be a gradual increase in mining power on networks like Ravencoin, Ethereum Classic and ETHPOW, the three main “heirs” to Ethereum’s hash rate.

ETC price also rises
In addition to the hash rate, the price of the ETC cryptocurrency has also risen sharply in recent weeks. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the price has risen by more than 6 percent in the past 24 hours. Moreover, considering the last two weeks, the appreciation is more than 17%.