Researcher: a bug in ProgPoW makes Ethereum mining profitable on ASIC devices

An independent Japanese researcher and developer under the nickname kikx has identified a vulnerability in the ProgPoW solution, designed tomake Ethereum mining on ASICs ineffective.

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According to kikx, the code for the hash function controlling the ProgPoW can be changed so that ASIC devices can again participate in the extraction of the second most capitalized cryptocurrency.

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kikx emphasized that too short 64-bit seed is involved in ProgPoW.

“This enables ASICs to calculate the hash without accessing memory.”- explained the researcher.

According to mining expert Christie Lee Minehan, kikx is a “pretty cool trick” and it remains to be seen whether it works in practice.

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Recall recently a number of well-knownrepresentatives of the Ethereum community signed a petition calling for refusal to activate the ProgPoW code. Many developers and equipment manufacturers consider this proposal hasty, risky, and even capable of leading to a network split.