Ethereum Classic Revived Before The Merge; A Massive Hashrate Increase Is Happening

Ethereum’s controversial hard fork – Ethereum Classic (ETC), has seen a true revival since the altcoin community is preparing to see one of the biggest layer shifts in crypto history. Indeed, Ethereum is scheduled for transitioning from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm in early September.

Ethereum miners, which would be left without access to mining, found their alternative in Ethereum Classic and experienced an 83% increase in hashrate since June. Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin even described ETC as a "fine" alternative for miners. In turn, the ETC token experienced a substantial rally after Antpool's CEO Leon Lv announced a $10 million investment in the chain.

Meanwhile, the mining community is already making preparations to launch several hard forks for their purposes. However, such new hard forks are less likely to gain traction, since many exchanges are already finding new proof-of-work chains outdated.

Ethereum gets ready for PoS migration

Buterin and his team are franticly working on the last details before the Merge, which is slated for mid-September and saw numerous delays. Ethereum's major software upgrade comes six years after the infamous 2016 DAO attack, which remains one of the most significant hacking incidents in crypto history.

After the fork, Ethereum’s chain separated in two, with Ethereum Classic remaining the original Ethereum chain, which suffered the hack. However, it seems that the Ethereum Classic has not resolved some of its vulnerabilities, as the chain was hit by several 51% attacks within a week in August 2020, which made many users question its security.

Reverting the trend

Ethereum Classic (ETC) made its peak in 2021 when the token reached $176.16 per ETC. However, shortly after the May 6 all-time high, the token fell victim to its short-lived fame. Since the high, ETC has been drifting in a downwards trend, reaching a low below $15 a year later.

However, the several successful testnet Merge events after almost two years of constant delays pushed Ethereum miners into seeking an alternative and ETC was a natural choice. Since July 15, the price of the 20th largest crypto project to date reverted to a 30-day high of $45.51 but lost ground past week as the global crypto market downturn pushed its price to the current $32.99 per ETC.

On the other hand, ETC’s older brother is doing much better, as Ethereum (ETH) is securing an uptrend, which started back in June and is still going strong, despite the volatility. In June, Ethereum reached a 3-month low of $896.11 but quickly managed to escape the bearish grip and recorded a price above $2,000 just a couple of months later, revisiting the levels at the beginning of the crypto wipeout in mid-May. Nevertheless, Ethereum now struggles to secure $1,600 as a support zone, but trading volumes and overall sentiment are indicating that such an event is more than possible.