Ethereum is comprised of community members of all backgrounds: core developers, dapp makers, miners, investors, and loyal supporters. This petition is not solely about the miners and their profits. This is about the security and long-term goals of Ethereum.

As pointed out in this article, this rewards reduction will undoubtedly push out the majority of GPU miners. Normally the difficulty would adjust until there is an equilibrium found. However, this comes at a very bad time when even stronger and more efficient Ethash ASIC miners are about to be unloaded into the market, mostly to institutions that can afford to buy in bulk. Let's admit it, ProgPOW's target implementation of 3 months is optimistic at best. We do not know when it will actually be implemented, and it certainly doesn't help that there are players in the space publicly coming out against ProgPOW. In the last video conference, it was clear that almost all industry leaders have not done research on ProgPOW yet. We are aware that a reduction in mining rewards will be beneficial economically. But what we do not know, is how long that effect will take. We are in an extremely different market cycle compared to the last rewards reduction. Bears own the market right now, and the rewards reduction is probably not even in the retail investors' thoughts. This would be a different story if we were in a bull market. This controversial decision to implement ProgPOW in these market conditions have resulted in threats of a chainsplit, with the ProgPOW team planning to fork off. What Ethereum will be left with is ASIC miners while GPU miners will be off mining ProgPOW's chain, as well as the Mimblewimble coins that are gaining popularity at an unprecedented rate. Unconfirmed, but something to consider. There have been accusations that core developer Afri, allegedly, has had meetings with the Linzhi ASIC manufacturer. Afri is now a strong opponent of ProgPOW, presumably because he may have invested a vast amount of money into developing Ethash ASICs. Although we do not know exactly why Afri was having meetings with an ASIC manufacturer, it does raise suspicions. If those meetings were totally unrelated, I sincerely apologize, Afri, for bringing this up, but EIP1234 is an urgent matter right now.Until the dust settles and we know the full story, it would be smart to hold off on a decision that will affect not only the Ethereum network, but pretty much the entire industry. This reduction will have ripple effects for all GPU-mineable coins. It is not a good idea to reduce rewards while miners are barely breaking even. Ethereum's network is largely secured by small to mid-sized GPU miners from all over the world, and if you pull them out, only ASICs will remain.

I am 100% fully supportive of the Constantinople hardfork. But I strongly, with many others, believe that right now is not a good time to reduce rewards. Depending on how long ProgPOW will take to implement (let's admit it, we're not the best at keeping deadlines), as well as when the market turns decidedly bullish, a 51% attack on Ethereum is a very serious and real threat. Not only that, but the ASIC miners will have an advantage over everyone else when PoS comes into play, as they will most likely be the only ones left mining.

I believe in decentralization, and Vitalik, I know you do too. You have inspired me in so many ways, and Ethereum will forever be in my heart. But from a logical standpoint, I cannot support the rewards reduction.

With just a few days left, I plea with the Ethereum team to reconsider.