'''Ethash''' is the [[proof-of-work]] function in [[Ethereum]]-based [[blockchain]] currencies.<ref name="wiki">{{cite web|url=https://github.com/ethereum/wiki|title=wiki: The Ethereum Wiki |date=8 February 2018|publisher=|accessdate=8 February 2018|via=GitHub}}</ref> It uses Keccak,is a [[hash function]] eventually standardizedbelonging to the Keccak family, the same family which the [[SHA-3]] hash functions belong to. TheseHowever, twoEthash areis differentnot a SHA-3 function, and should not be confused with them. Since version 1.0, Ethash has been designed to be [[ASIC]]-resistant via memory-hardness (harder to implement in special ASIC chips) and easily verifiable.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rudlang |first1=Marit |title=Comparative Analysis of Bitcoin and Ethereum |date=Jun 2017 |publisher=NTNU: Norwegian University of Science and Technology |location=Norway |pages=52-53 |url=https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2451325/17050_FULLTEXT.pdf?sequence=1#page=51 |accessdate=29 September 2018}}</ref> It also uses a slightly modified version of earlier Dagger<ref>Vitalik Buterin. [http://www.hashcash.org/papers/dagger.html Dagger: A memory-hard to compute, memory-easy to verify scrypt alternative]. Tech Report, hashcash.org website, 2013.</ref> and Hashimoto<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dryja|first1=Thaddeus|title=Hashimoto: I/O bound proof of work|url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3b23/7cc60c1b9650e260318d33bec471b8202d5e.pdf|website=Semantic Scholar|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810043640/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3b23/7cc60c1b9650e260318d33bec471b8202d5e.pdf|archivedate=2017-08-10}}</ref> hashes to remove computational overhead.<ref name="wiki"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tikhomirov |first1=Sergei |title=Ethereum: State of Knowledge and Research Perspectives |journal=International Symposium on Foundations and Practice of Security |date=17 Feb 2018 |issue=FPS 2017 |pages=206-221 |url=https://fps2017.loria.fr/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/19.pdf |accessdate=29 September 2018}}</ref> Previously referred to as Dagger-Hashimoto, the Ethash function has evolved over time. Ethash uses an initial 1 GB dataset known as the Ethash [[Directed acyclic graph|DAG]] and a 16 MB cache for light clients to hold. These are regenerated every 30,000 blocks, known as an epoch. Miners grab slices of the DAG to generate mix-hashes using transaction and receipt data, along with a cryptographic [[Cryptographic nonce|nonce]] to generate a hash below a dynamic target difficulty.<ref name="wiki"/>
