Virtual currency mining pool operator and rig manufacturer, Bitmain, has disclosed that some of the transaction charges it obtains after mining blocks of bitcoin cash (BCH) will be destroyed with the view of supporting the network’s economic health. This was revealed by the mining pool of the Chinese firm, AntPool. The mining pool indicated that 12% of Bitcoin Cash’s transaction fees will be ‘burned’ and this will be done when they are sent to burn addresses. In these addresses the funds are inspendable.
According to Bitmain, Bitcoin Cash is on the verge of becoming a blockchain that is widely used. By burning some of the transaction charges of the network, the internal economy will be strengthened, and this will assist investors in profiting from the virtual currency’s growth.
Support level
“While having active users spending BCH is very important for the ecosystem, having investors who hold BCH is also a fundamental requirement for maintaining a strong economy. Without these holders, BCH’s exchange value loses significant support,” read a statement from AntPool.
Per Bitmain, when Bitcoin Cash’s total supply in circulation is reduced, the selling pressure on the virtual currency will also ebb and this will consequently lead to the appreciation of BCH. This argument is bound to raise eyebrows since most advocates of Bitcoin Cash are of the belief that the vision of bitcoin’s founder was that virtual coins should be currencies first, and not stores of value.
De facto policy
Currently, around 7.3% of the Bitcoin Cash blocks that have been mined in the last week are attributed to AntPool. The mining pool operator has also urged other miners and collective mining pools to burn some, or a portion, of their transaction fees. If the mining pool operators abide by this then it will become the network’s de facto policy.
Earlier in the month Bitmain announced the release of Antminer E3, an ASIC miner designed for the Ethereum virtual currency (ETH). Initially, these ASIC miners were designed specifically for mining of Bitcoin (BTC) as they are not only more powerful, but also more efficient compared to CPUs and graphics cards. The release of the Antminer E3 for Ethereum was something of a surprise since the virtual currency was supposed to be resistant to ASIC mining rigs. This is because Ethereum is heavily reliant on fast memory, which are not the strengths of ASIC miners. The mining performance of the Antminer E3 is expected to be 180MG/s and power consumption will be 800 watts.