The cut off point as I understand it is at around 2Gb from both an ASIC resistance stand point as well as there just being too much diverse and outdated hardware below that point.
My quick blip on PoW change is, while MTP has been a great ASIC deterrent it’s pretty much limited only Nvidia miners, with extensive Vram to mine MTP. 1080ti’s, among others have been the domanit Zcoin staple. Switching to ProgPoW opens the door for AMD gpus, 4GB’s and less which are going to leave ETH network end of this year, to mine and secure Zcoin. Nvidia does not hold a disctint advantage in ProgPoW both AMD/Nvidia have there "excellent’ card all the way down and up the line-up. While older AMD RX500/400 series still do well.
Zcoin will have a excellent chance shortly, similar to ETC, so capitalize on 4GB GPUs leaving ETH to increase Zcoin network hashrate and adopation.
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I agree with Xazax. There are going to be a TON of AMD miners looking to point their rigs at a solid coin over the next couple of months and most would rather not deal with ETC, for various reasons. ProgPoW is easily the smartest move to get them on board.
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I do think ProgPOW will be better. Alot of hashrate when eth leaves pow.
Just bear in mind that there are public bitstreams out now for ProgPow that use less than 10% of the best GPU hash/W rate. I am still voting for it though barring the rumours of CHEAP asics being confirmed.
Asic or some other hardware specialiazation is inevitable future of every valuable coin, no matter the algo. I think the past decade showed enough examples to treat this as axiom. From here the are only two paths (not eqating PoS which is a separate direction, or maybe even the only outcome in the end).
- Embracing the asics to the point they are commoditized. SHA256 is likely the best example. I think we are in the early stage of commoditizing though.
- Commiting to asic resistance by switching to new algo from time to time. This is monero’s path. I think it has it’s pros and I am glad some coins experiment in that field, but personally I am not in favour of that path. It creates the ‘miners bad’ vibe in the community and keeps the coin in the firm state forever.
That being said, I propose alternative solution, which is switching to SHA256D based AuXPoW akin to how Namecoin works. IMO, most if not all miners from the Bitcoin BCH community would be in favour of taking Firo under the roof. If Lelantus is successful Firo is almost guranteed to provide a good financial incentive for that to happen.
With chainlocks in place I see no risks followng that path.
That would loose the community its currently most active and vocal component the hobbyist miners. They are at the moment still a lot more valuable as a marketing force for spreading adoption and participation than anything a couple of asic farms and Jihan Wu would be able to do for it.
The higher the degree of decentalization and openness to participation the better, attempting to restrict that would do irrevocable harm.
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