• An anonymous miner has been identified to have a high percentage of hashrate on the Bitcoin Cash Network
• Community fears for an attack as a result of user gaining majority of hashrate
• Calvin Ayre is suspected to be behind the mining concentration

An unknown miner has been able to control 44 percent of the total Bitcoin cash (BCH) network hashrate this week and the rumours have been that it could be Calvin Ayre, a Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision (BSV) supporter or a lone miner who has a lot of confidence in BCH, according to a new Trustnodes report.

Anonymous miner names blocks Satoshi Nakamoto

Per the report, an anonymous miner whose blocks have been named after Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s creator has gained control of a good percentage of the Bitcoin cash network hashrate.

In the past seven days, the hashrate has been above 37 percent and as high as 44 percent during the course of 24 hours. If 51 percent is reached, it could leave the network and block history susceptible to an attack.

While the identity of the miner is unknown, it is assumed that Calvin Ayre is behind the operation in a bid to return to BCH mining after leaving to BSV during the chain-split in November 2018.

It is also purported that the miner’s sudden interest could be as a result of their confidence in BCH, in preparation for the addition of Schnorr Signatures on May 15, 2019, or to take advantage of the 1.50 percent more profit gained through BCH mining in comparison to BTC.

Bitcoin Cash mining hash rate on the increase

BCH hashrate has been increasing unlike that of BSV which has been on the decline since the chain-split from BCH. As of December 2018, BSV’s hash rate was around 1.5 Petahashes per second but it is now circa 600 Terahashes per second.

BCH, on the other hand, has seen an increase in its hashrate from less than 1 Petahash per second in December 2018 to over 2.4 Petahashes per second. Nonetheless, it is still less than what was obtainable before the split given that it was around circa 5 Petahashes at that time.

Reportedly, an unknown miner with a similar mode of operation as that of BSV had been noted on the bitcoin network for a few weeks before the hash was distributed to known pools.

New mining farms setting up in China in preparation for the wet season

More mining operations of this nature are expected soon due to new mining farms that have been set up in China in preparation for the wet season. The season provides a lot of water – and so, cheap electricity to carry out industrial mining.