In July 2016, six years ago, an Ethereum hardfork was performed to fix the notorious DAO hack. The fork resulted in the split of the Ethereum chain into two distinct factions and the introduction to the crypto-community of ethereum classical, a crypto asset. Since years, both chains used the same proof-of work (PoW), consensus algorithm. With The Merge coming up speculators expect Ethash PoW miner to transition to Ethereum Classic mining. During the last two weeks, ethereum classic has climbed more than 124% against the U.S. dollar, and the network’s hashrate has spiked a great deal as well.
Ethereum Classic Obtains Triple-Digit Gains in the Past Two Weeks
Ethereum classic (ETC) is six years old this month and it’s seen some significant gains during the last 14 days. ETC’s value has risen alongside its counterpart ethereum since The Merge date was announced.
While ETH has seen a significant double-digit 45.7% gain in two weeks, ETC has jumped 124.2% in that same period of time. Despite the 124% rise, year-to-date, ETC is still down 34% and around 80% lower than the crypto asset’s all-time high at $167 per unit.
ETC uses the same consensus algorithm that ETH, and PoW miners who used to mine ether are beginning to migrate to ETC. In mid-July, when the preliminary Merge date was penciled-in, ETC’s hashrate was 17.39 terahash per second (TH/s) and today, it’s 20% higher at 20.88 TH/s.
ETC’s high reached 21.41 THB/s last week. It is now close to the all-time record it reached last season. ETC’s all-time hashrate high was 28.53 TH/s on May 7, 2021, at block height 12,695,074. At the pace the Ethereum Classic hashrate has been going, it’s quite possible the hashrate could surpass its all-time high in the near future.
The Korean Won is More than 20% in Ethereum Classic Trades
ETC’s average fees are much cheaper than ETH’s average fees, as the average ETH fee today is 0.002 ETH or $3.31, while the average ETC fee is 0.000096 ETC or $0.0031 per transfer. Tether (USDT) is ETC’s largest trading pair, as the stablecoin captures 59.17% of all trades today. Following USDT is the Korean won with 20.82% of all ETC trades, and the U.S. dollar is ETC’s third-largest trading pair as it commands 7.84%.
11.53% of the volume on the South Korean exchange Bithumb stems from ETC swaps and 22.96% of Upbit’s volume derives from ETC trades against the Korean won (KRW) as well. When it comes to developing decentralized financial infrastructure (defi), Ethereum Classic is way behind the others.
Ethereum (ETH), with $56.62 Billion in total value (TVL), has the highest value currently locked by any blockchain. That’s more than 65% of the $87.56 billion locked across the myriad of blockchains that support defi protocols. Meanwhile, Ethereum Classic’s has a very small TVL, with only $175,483 on July 27, according to defillama.com statistics.
There’s a total of three ETC defi applications compared to Ethereum’s 523 protocols. The Hebeswap is an automated token exchange that holds over 92% of ETC’s defi value. The rest of ETC’s defi TVL or a mere $12,366 is held on Etcswap and Swap Cat.
If miners continue to find value in ETC’s PoW security, it is possible that ETC-based defi protocols and smart contract applications could see more development. ETC also has a supply cap set at 210,700,000 while Ethereum’s supply is infinite. Today, 136,026,596 ETC is currently in circulation which means there’s only 74,673,404 ETC left to mine.
The Ethereum (ETH), network and community are much bigger than the Ethereum Classic (ETC), ecosystem in a number of ways. ETH’s market capitalization is also significantly higher than ETC. ETH is the 2nd-largest cryptocurrency asset in terms of market capitalization, accounting for 17.7% the $1 trillion crypto currency with $193.36 million. ETC, on the other hand, represents 0.402% of the crypto economy’s value with $4.39 billion today.
What do you think about ETC’s recent price spike and the hashrate climbing higher? Are you expecting ether miners switching to the Ethereum Classic Chain? Comment below and let us know how you feel about the subject.
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