Digital asset-backed securities provider ETC Group will continue to rely on Ethereum’s original proof-of-work (PoW) consensus for its current Ethereum exchange-traded product (ETP).
ETC Group officially announced the launch of a new Ethereum ETP on Wednesday in response to the upcoming Ethereum Merge. Scheduled for mid-September, Ethereum Merge is a long-awaited consensus update set to move the Ethereum blockchain from mining-based proof-of-work (PoW) to non-mining proof-of-stake (PoS).
ETC Group’s new Ethereum ETP has a forked PoW Ethereum chain that represents a group of miners who oppose Ethereum’s transition to PoS. will withstand. The PoW chain will have a new token called ETHW, which will provide a basis for ETC Group’s new physically backed ETP called ETC Group Physical EthereumPoW (ETHWetc).
According to the announcement, ETHWetc is expected to be listed with the ZETW ticker on Deutsche Boerse’s electronic trading platform Xetra. ETC Group noted that it expects the listing to take place shortly after the fork on September 16.
ETC Group also said that ZETW will automatically exchange the original ETC Group Physical Ethereum (ZETH) on a 1:1 unit basis in broker accounts.
Bradley Duke, founder and co-CEO of ETC Group, pointed out that leveraging hard forks into key cryptocurrencies is the firm’s core vision and commitment, and said, “Accordingly, any owner of our Ethereum-based ETP will be able to fork shortly after the Ethereum hard fork takes place. will receive matching units of the new Ethereum PoW ETP for free,” he said.
“Investors in our products need to receive the proceeds of this fork, and we believe this is the only truth.”
The development took place in a crypto industry environment that was actively preparing for the anticipated Ethereum Merge, with various companies seeking new mining options or launching Ethereum staking.
Swiss-regulated crypto platform SEBA Bank activated Ether (ETH) staking services for institutional investors on Wednesday. In a statement, the bank stated that it will offer ETH staking service to organizations where they can earn interest by staking on the Ethereum network. Canada-based crypto miner Hive Blockchain announced on Tuesday that it is working to replace Ether mining with other coins during Ethereum’s recent transition to proof-of-stake (PoS).