What the fork? Ethereum’s potential forked ETHW token is trading under $100

An Ethereum fork token that does not yet exist, dubbed ETHW, is trading under $100 across several crypto exchanges after debuting at $30. 

ETHW and ETHS begin trading 

ETHW is the native asset to the ETHPoW chain. ETHPoW, for now, is a possible new chain backed by proof-of-work (PoW) miners as the original chain switches to proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus in September’s “Merge” event.

Meanwhile, the proof-of-stake version ETHS is trading at around $1,600, or the difference between the ETH price and the ETHW price. 

We promise there won’t be any premining or additional token issuance. So there is nowhere to save a reward for any contributors and supporters at this moment. However, if any beneficiaries would love to reward early supporters, we will connect beneficiaries with early supporters. https://t.co/gj4b81LD3V

— ETHPoW (@EthereumPoW) August 8, 2022

As a result of this potential chain split, anyone holding a certain number of the original chain’s Ether (ETH), will automatically receive an equal amount of ETHW tokens. Such speculations have prompted some exchanges to list ETHW for trading in advance.

For instance, Poloniex announced support for both ETHW, as well as ETHS, the PoS chain token, listed for trading against Ether.

Trading is now live for the Ethereum (ETH) potential hard fork tokens! @justinsuntron

ETHW(ETH1)/ETH: https://t.co/QeY2Yk1a9E

ETHS(ETH2)/ETH: https://t.co/yS1piE47u4 pic.twitter.com/8Ko44ykWqd

— Poloniex Exchange (@Poloniex) August 7, 2022

Crypto exchange MEXC Global and Gate.io have also listed ETHW and ETHS on its platform. While OKX CEO Jay Hao has committed that they would list the newly forked Ethereum coins if there is “sufficient demand” for them among traders.

At @OKX, we actively monitor and will support the #Ethereum Merge.

Potential Ethereum hard forks may emerge when the network’s upgrade takes effect.

We will evaluate and list the newly forked coins if there is sufficient demand.

— jay_star.okx ⚛️ OKX CEO (@star_okx) August 8, 2022

Crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX also launched Tether-margined contracts for ETHW, creating more room for price speculation ahead of the token’s potential inception post Merge.

ETHW trading at how much?

ETHW debuted on Poloniex and MEXC Global on Aug. 8 at around $30 per token. On the same day, it rallied 333% to $130 before correcting to approximately $100 on Aug. 9. Trading volume was stable throughout the period.

Will ETHPoW survive?

Forked chains seldom survive, mainly due to a lack of support from app developers, miners and promoters. Nonetheless, some projects have witnessed reasonable adoption by users and miners alike (e.g. Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic).

Notably, Hongcai “Chandler” Guo, a San Francisco-based angel investor in Bitcoin and Ethereum startups, has emerged as the main backer of ETHPoW. He claims he has a team of 60 developers working on getting rid of the so-called “difficulty bomb,” a software tool…