Since the Ethereum hard fork to Metropolis in October, the price of ETH has dropped significantly, and is currently sitting at around $300. This has led to some miners switching to other coins, and some even shutting down their rigs altogether.

The drop in price has also led to a decrease in hashrate, which is the measure of how much processing power is being devoted to mining Ethereum. This is partly due to the fact that when prices are low, it becomes less profitable to mine, and so miners are less likely to continue doing so.

However, it’s also worth noting that the Metropolis hard fork introduced a new mining algorithm, which is designed to be ASIC-resistant. This means that it will be harder for large-scale mining operations to get a foothold in the Ethereum network.

So, while the current situation might not be ideal for Ethereum miners, it’s worth considering that the long-term prospects for the network may be bright. In the meantime, those who are still mining ETH can take comfort in knowing that they are helping to secure one of the most promising blockchain networks in existence.