Ethereum Classic (ETC) is one of the few major proof-of-work cryptocurrencies that remains genuinely mineable with dedicated ASIC hardware in 2026. Unlike Ethereum, which moved to proof-of-stake in 2022, Ethereum Classic has stayed committed to its original PoW consensus — and its ETCHash algorithm is purpose-built for ASIC mining at relatively low power draws compared to Bitcoin hardware.
For Australian home miners, ETC sits in an interesting position: it's a legitimate, liquid altcoin with decent daily volume, it can be mined with compact, reasonably priced ASICs, and its power requirements are modest enough to be viable even at the higher electricity rates common across Australia. This guide walks through everything you need to get started.
What Is Ethereum Classic and Why Mine It?
Ethereum Classic is the original Ethereum blockchain, preserved after the 2016 DAO hack led to a controversial hard fork. The majority of the Ethereum community moved to the new chain (now proof-of-stake); a minority maintained the original chain as Ethereum Classic, keeping proof-of-work and the principle of immutability intact.
From a mining perspective, ETC has several things going for it:
- Dedicated ASIC support: Unlike many altcoins that rely on GPU mining, ETC now has purpose-built ASIC hardware optimised for ETCHash, delivering far better efficiency than GPU rigs
- Established market: ETC is listed on all major exchanges including Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken, so converting mined coins to AUD is straightforward
- Lower network difficulty than Bitcoin: While difficulty has risen significantly since the Ethereum merge, ETC remains accessible to smaller operators compared to the SHA-256 Bitcoin network
- Reasonable hardware cost: ETC ASICs are significantly cheaper than top-tier Bitcoin miners, making entry more accessible
Understanding the ETCHash Algorithm
Ethereum Classic uses the ETCHash algorithm, which is a modified version of the Ethash algorithm originally used by Ethereum. The key modification is that ETCHash uses a smaller DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) file — the dataset miners must load into memory to compute each hash. This smaller DAG was introduced deliberately to keep ETC mining accessible to hardware with lower memory capacity.
The DAG grows slowly over time with each epoch (every 60,000 blocks on ETC). As of 2026, the ETC DAG is well within the capacity of modern ETCHash ASICs, which are purpose-built with sufficient onboard memory to handle the current and projected DAG size for years to come. This is something GPU miners needed to watch carefully — older GPUs with limited VRAM would eventually be unable to load the DAG — but it's a non-issue with current-generation ASIC hardware.
For a broader comparison of how algorithm-specific ASICs stack up against GPU rigs, see our guide on ASIC mining vs GPU mining in 2026.
ETC Mining Hardware Available in Australia
There are two dedicated ETCHash ASIC miners available through MinerHub, covering different price points and performance tiers.
iPollo V2X — 1200 MH/s at 165W
The iPollo V2X is a compact desktop-class ETCHash ASIC delivering 1,200 MH/s at just 165 watts. That gives it an efficiency rating of approximately 0.138 J/MH — exceptional for ETC mining and one of the most power-efficient options on the market for any ETCHash algorithm miner.
The V2X is designed for home use: it's quiet by ASIC standards, draws less than 1A at 240V, and runs on a standard Australian power point without any special electrical work. Setup is straightforward via a web interface, and it supports all major ETC mining pools out of the box. For Australian miners on high electricity tariffs, the low wattage makes it viable at rates where larger or less efficient hardware would run at a loss.
Jasminer X4-Q — 1040 MH/s at 480W
The Jasminer X4-Q delivers 1,040 MH/s at 480 watts, using Jasminer's proprietary high-throughput computing (HTC) chip architecture rather than a traditional ASIC design. This results in an efficiency of approximately 0.46 J/MH — considerably less efficient than the iPollo V2X, but the X4-Q trades efficiency for a different set of advantages: it's fanless and nearly silent, operating through passive convection cooling rather than spinning fans.
The X4-Q is chassis-shaped more like a server appliance than a traditional miner, and it's a reasonable choice for home miners who prioritise noise levels over efficiency — a bedroom or living space setup where fan noise is a dealbreaker. That said, at Australian electricity rates, the higher power draw relative to its hashrate makes profitability calculations tighter than the iPollo V2X.
GPU Mining for ETC: Is It Still Viable?
GPU mining for ETC is still technically possible, but in 2026 it's largely uncompetitive against dedicated ETCHash ASICs. Modern GPUs simply cannot match the efficiency of purpose-built silicon on the ETCHash algorithm. If you have existing GPU hardware and are considering whether to point it at ETC, the honest answer is that you'll likely get better returns directing that hashrate at a GPU-friendly algorithm on a different coin. See our overview of altcoin mining vs Bitcoin mining in 2026 for a broader look at where GPU hardware currently performs best.
Choosing an ETC Mining Pool
Solo mining ETC is not realistic for operators running one or two ASICs — the probability of finding a block independently is extremely low. Pool mining is the standard approach, and ETC has a healthy pool ecosystem.
The major ETC mining pools as of 2026 include:
- 2Miners — one of the most popular ETC pools, with servers in multiple regions. Australian miners should select the Asia-Pacific endpoint to minimise latency. Payout in ETC, PPLNS reward system
- Antpool — Bitmain's pool supports ETC and is highly reliable with a large global hashrate. PPS+ fee structure
- F2Pool — long-established pool with ETC support, competitive fees, and a clear payout dashboard
- Ethermine (ETC) — the ETC-specific branch of the Ethermine pool, well-regarded for stability and transparency
All pools use the same basic connection method — a Stratum URL and port, your ETC wallet address as the worker username, and an optional worker name for identification. The connection details go directly into your miner's web configuration interface.
For a full walkthrough of how to sign up to a pool and configure your miner's pool settings, see our step-by-step guide on how to join a mining pool in Australia.
Setting Up Your ETC Miner: Step by Step
1. Get an ETC Wallet Address
Before you configure your miner, you need an ETC wallet address to receive payouts. Options include hardware wallets (Ledger and Trezor both support ETC), software wallets (MetaMask supports ETC on the Ethereum Classic network), or leaving coins on an exchange temporarily — though long-term exchange storage is not recommended.
Your wallet address is a 42-character string starting with 0x. This becomes your pool username in the miner configuration.
2. Connect the Miner to Your Network
Plug the miner into your router via Ethernet for a stable connection. While some ETC ASICs support Wi-Fi, a wired connection is always preferred for mining stability. Power on the unit and allow 2–3 minutes for it to boot.
3. Find the Miner's IP Address
Log into your router's admin panel and look for a new device on your local network. Most miners will appear under their brand name or model number. Note the IP address — you'll need it to access the miner's web interface. Alternatively, IP scanning tools like Advanced IP Scanner (Windows) or Angry IP Scanner (cross-platform) will locate the device quickly.
4. Access the Web Interface
Type the miner's IP address into a browser. You'll be prompted for a username and password — defaults vary by manufacturer but are typically admin / admin or printed on a sticker on the unit. Change the password immediately after first login.
5. Configure Pool Settings
Navigate to the pool or miner configuration section. Enter the Stratum URL, port, and your ETC wallet address. Most interfaces allow you to enter two or three pool addresses for failover — always configure at least one backup pool so mining continues if the primary pool goes offline.
Example configuration for 2Miners ETC:
- Pool URL:
etc.2miners.com - Port:
1010 - Username:
YOUR_ETC_WALLET_ADDRESS.worker1 - Password:
x
6. Save and Monitor
Save the configuration and allow the miner 5–10 minutes to connect to the pool and begin submitting shares. Check the miner's status dashboard for accepted shares and hashrate confirmation. Cross-check against your pool's dashboard using your wallet address to confirm the worker has appeared and shares are being counted.
Once running, our guide on how to read your miner's stats explains exactly what to watch for — including what a healthy share acceptance rate looks like and when a spike in rejected shares signals a problem.
ETC Mining Profitability at Australian Electricity Rates
Profitability is where the rubber meets the road for Australian miners. The key variables are ETC price, network difficulty, pool fees, and — critically for Australia — electricity cost.
At the time of writing, average electricity rates across Australian states sit roughly in these ranges:
- WA (Synergy): ~$0.31–$0.34/kWh on standard residential tariffs
- QLD: ~$0.28–$0.32/kWh
- NSW/VIC/SA: ~$0.30–$0.38/kWh depending on retailer and tariff
Running the iPollo V2X at 165W, your daily electricity cost at $0.33/kWh is approximately $1.31 per day — a very low baseline for a continuously running miner. Whether the ETC output exceeds that figure depends on the ETC price and network difficulty at any given time, but the low power draw gives this unit a genuine shot at profitability across a range of market conditions.
The Jasminer X4-Q at 480W costs approximately $3.80 per day in electricity at the same rate — and with slightly lower hashrate, the economics require a higher ETC price or lower electricity rate to break even compared to the iPollo V2X.
For a detailed breakdown of how electricity rates affect mining margins across different hardware, see our guide on what electricity rate makes home mining profitable in Australia and our state-by-state comparison of WA vs QLD vs NSW electricity rates for miners.
Use a real-time ETC mining profitability calculator — such as those on WhatToMine or CoinCalculators — to plug in current ETC price, your hardware's hashrate, your electricity rate, and the current network difficulty for an up-to-date estimate. Mining profitability changes daily with price movements and difficulty adjustments, so point-in-time figures in any guide should be treated as illustrative rather than definitive.
ETC Network Difficulty: What to Expect
The Ethereum Classic network adjusts difficulty to target a consistent block time of approximately 13 seconds. Since the Ethereum merge in 2022, a portion of former Ethereum GPU miners migrated to ETC, causing a significant difficulty spike. That elevated difficulty has moderated somewhat as miners have moved to more profitable algorithms or hardware, but ETC difficulty remains higher than the pre-merge baseline.
What this means for small operators: block rewards are split among more miners and your share of total network hashrate — even with a 1,200 MH/s ASIC — is very small. This makes pool mining essential and makes profitability calculations sensitive to difficulty fluctuations. A difficulty increase doesn't change your electricity cost, but it reduces your daily ETC output proportionally.
Understanding how difficulty adjustments work at a fundamental level is worthwhile for any miner. Our post on understanding mining difficulty covers the core concepts, and while it focuses on Bitcoin, the principles apply directly to ETC.
ETC Tax Obligations for Australian Miners
The Australian Tax Office treats mined cryptocurrency as ordinary income in the hands of individual miners. The amount included in assessable income is the AUD value of the ETC at the time each mining reward is received — not when you later sell it.
When you subsequently sell or exchange your ETC, a capital gains event also occurs. If you held the coins for more than 12 months, the 50% CGT discount applies to any gain. Detailed guidance on how this works in practice is covered in our ATO crypto mining tax guide for 2026.
The hardware itself — your iPollo V2X or Jasminer X4-Q — may be depreciable as a business asset if you're mining for profit rather than as a hobby. See our post on how Australian miners can claim hardware depreciation under ATO rules for more detail. And if your mining activity is significant enough to warrant registering for an ABN, our post on whether you need an ABN to mine crypto in Australia covers the threshold considerations.
Is ETC Mining Worth It in 2026?
The honest answer is: it depends on your electricity rate, your entry price for hardware, and what ETC does over your payback period. ETC is a legitimate altcoin with real liquidity and a committed proof-of-work community — it's not going anywhere. But it's a mid-tier altcoin, not Bitcoin, and its price is more volatile and less predictable.
The iPollo V2X makes a compelling case for itself specifically because of its extremely low power draw. At 165W, it's one of the most electricity-frugal ASICs available for any algorithm, which means it can survive market downturns that would push higher-wattage hardware into loss territory. For Australian home miners looking for altcoin exposure with manageable ongoing costs, it's worth serious consideration.
For broader context on how ETC compares to other altcoin mining options available in Australia, see our guide to the best ASIC miners for altcoins in Australia 2026 and our head-to-head comparison of Goldshell vs IceRiver vs Jasminer altcoin ASICs.
Browse the full range of altcoin mining hardware available from MinerHub — shipped Australia-wide from Perth — in our altcoin miners collection.
