Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: Mining Ethereum (ETH)? Dead. Finished. Kaput! It’s been that way since September 2022 when “The Merge” flipped the switch, yanking Ethereum off the Proof-of-Work (PoW) track and slamming it onto Proof-of-Stake (PoS).
If anyone tells you otherwise in 2025, they’re either clueless or selling you something useless.
Remember those glory days? Warehouses humming with GPUs, printing ETH seemingly out of thin air? Yeah, good times for some. But that PoW engine, the one that guzzled electricity like a V8 pickup, got ripped out.
Ethereum needed to slash its massive energy bill (mission accomplished, down 99.95%!) and lay the tracks for upgrades meant to handle more traffic down the line. PoS, where validators lock up ETH (“stake”) instead of burning power, was the answer.
So, what happened to the miners? Chaos, mostly. Imagine billions of dollars worth of specialized Ethash ASICs turning into expensive doorstops overnight.
The GPU market? Flooded with cards dumped by miners desperate to cash out. That colossal hash rate that once secured Ethereum didn’t just vanish – it scattered, desperately seeking a new home.
The Great Hash Rate Migration: Aftershocks Still Felt
Aftershocks of Hash Rate Migration
A huge chunk of that power slammed into Ethereum Classic (ETC). Why? Because it was basically Ethereum’s older twin brother, still running a compatible PoW algorithm (Etchash).
The result? ETC’s mining difficulty shot through the roof, making it way harder for everyone already there, and the new arrivals, to earn anything substantial. Think of a quiet fishing spot suddenly invaded by a thousand boats – nobody catches much anymore.
Other GPU-friendly chains like Ravencoin (RVN), with its ASIC-resistant KawPow algorithm, and the efficiency-focused Ergo (ERG) using Autolykos v2, also saw their difficulty spike as displaced GPUs looked for work. Some miners even tried clinging to the past with a forked chain called ETHW, but that largely fizzled out.
PoW Isn’t Dead, Just… Different (and Harder)
PoW mining is here to stay
So, while ETH mining is ancient history, PoW mining itself definitely isn’t gone in 2025. People are still grinding away on various chains. If you’re sitting on GPUs, the usual suspects are still in play:
- ETC: Still the closest relative, mineable with GPUs and older ASICs. But that post-Merge difficulty surge never really went away.
- RVN & ERG: These explicitly court GPU miners, pushing ASIC resistance. If you believe in their specific niches (asset transfer for RVN, smart contracts for ERG), maybe.
- Kaspa (KAS): This one’s made noise with its blockDAG structure (KHeavyHash algorithm), promising speed and efficiency. It’s been a popular GPU target lately.
- Others: You’ll see names like Flux, Vertcoin, Zcash (though ASICs compete here too), Conflux pop up on mining calculators. Always DYOR – Do Your Own Research.
And of course, there’s the old guard: Bitcoin (BTC) needing powerful, expensive ASICs, Litecoin (LTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE) also largely ASIC territory (often mined together), and Monero (XMR) stubbornly sticking to its CPU-friendly RandomX algorithm.
The Million-Dollar Question: Can You Actually Make Money Doing This?
Making money via PoW mining
Alright, let’s talk brass tacks. Forget the 2021 hype when a decent GPU could pull in serious dollars daily mining ETH. Those days are long gone.
In 2025, the profitability equation for PoW mining is brutal, and it boils down to one single, overwhelming factor: your electricity cost.
Seriously. The price of the coin matters, sure. The network difficulty (how crowded the network is) is huge. Your hardware’s hash rate (how fast it mines) and its power draw are critical. Block rewards are what you’re chasing. Pool fees take a small cut (you need a pool for consistent, small payouts unless you’re a massive operation).
But none of that matters if your power isn’t dirt cheap. We’re talking significantly under $0.10 per kWh, ideally much lower. If you’re paying typical residential rates in most places, you’re likely burning more cash on electricity than you’re earning in crypto, even with efficient hardware.
Calculators like WhatToMine can give you a snapshot, but plug in your real power cost, and watch those potential profits often evaporate or turn red.
Many former ETH miners simply shut down their rigs because the math didn’t work anymore on altcoins. Industrial operations with access to wholesale or stranded energy sources have a massive edge. For the average person? It’s tough sledding.
The Verdict: Mining in 2025 – A Grind, Not a Goldmine
The reality of mining in 2025
So, can you strike digital gold mining PoW coins in 2025? Highly unlikely. Can you maybe eke out a small profit, or at least mine at a near breakeven hoping prices moon? Maybe, but only if you’ve got that magic combination of efficient gear and incredibly cheap power.
Ethereum’s move to PoS drew a line in the sand. Network participation now largely means either staking capital (ETH PoS) or grinding out PoW on altcoins, battling difficulty and praying your electricity bill doesn’t wipe you out.
The PoW game continues, but it’s a far cry from the ETH bonanza. It’s a specialist’s game now, heavily favouring those with economic advantages, particularly on the energy front. Proceed with extreme caution and a very sharp pencil.
