Im not so sure what benefits it has, but im mining it a lont time,

What I see is almost every day "moviment" at github https://github.com/ethereum

And there is the site too:

https://www.ethereum.org/

Maybe this can help a bit....

 
I forget... you can mine only whith the soft of them. For not use asics or something like this.

It uses CPU mining, but I cant imagine what can stop someone to rent a server whith 8 or 10 core to mine it....