The crypto community is patiently waiting for the highly anticipated Ethereum network upgrade from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) as The Merge is expected to happen 27 days from now. After Ethereum transitions from PoW to PoS, only two crypto assets in the top ten market cap rankings will be PoW tokens, which is a stark contrast to the top ten nine years ago.
Nine years ago, the PoW and hybrid PoW coins in the top ten included bitcoin (BTC), litecoin (LTC), namecoin (NMC), peercoin (PPC), feathercoin (FTC), novacoin (NVC), primecoin (XPM), terracoin (TRC), and infinitecoin (IFC). At that time in 2013, the only non-PoW coin in the top ten standings was XRP, and XRP is still in the top ten crypto market cap rankings in 2022. Close to seven years ago on August 23, 2015, there were fewer PoW coins in the top ten, even with ethereum (ETH) joining the ranks as a PoW coin.
Two years later, six PoW coins still remained in the top ten on August 20, 2017. PoW coins included at that time were BTC, ETH, BCH, LTC, DASH, and ETC. BCH, LTC, DASH, and ETC no longer appear in the top ten standings. Further, a few other coins that once held positions in the top ten like IOTA, NEM, and NEO have also dropped out of the top ten standings since then. That was close to five years ago and today, DOGE and BTC are the last PoW coins standing in the top ten.
What do you think about the top ten coins losing proof-of-work dominance over the last nine years? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
