# Introduction to ETHO mining

ETHO can be mined using a variety of hardware gear and mining software. The Etho Protocol blockchain network uses the popular [Ethash](https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/Ethash) Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm (algo) for consensus generation. The Ethash algo has design protections in place against [ASIC](https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/what-is-an-asic-miner/) mining, which encourages commodity hardware mining from small time miners, which in turn decentralizes the consensus reaching mechanism.

When the time comes, and the Etho Protocol team and community determine it to be necessary, we will look at further protecting against any improvements in Ethash ASIC mining by potentially modifying the PoW algorithm or changing to a completely different algorithm all-together that further encourages smaller miners and participants to join the network.

{% hint style="info" %}
When deciding which Etho Protocol pool to use for your mining, keep in mind that it's ideal for hashrate to be spread over as many pools as possible. You can find a list of Etho Protocol pools at <https://miningpoolstats.stream/etho>
{% endhint %}

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