Ethereum Classic Hashrate Slides 46% Since The Merge, PoW ETH Forks Gather Double-Digit Gains

September 25, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Does Ethereum’s new ETHPoW fork stand a chance? ETHW price falls 65% post-Merge

September 16, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Nonetheless, ETHPoW is gaining adoption among top mining pools and crypto exchanges.

ETHPoW, a separatist Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchain forked from Ethereum's Merge, went live on Sep. 15. However, the chain suffered technical issues after the launch, which put downward pressure on its ETHW token.

ETHW price down 65% amid "ChainID" fiasco

The price of ETHW has dropped by 65% since ETHPoW's launch to around $14 on Sep. 16, according to CoinMarketCap. At its lowest, the token was changing hands for $9.50.

*ETHW price performance in the past seven days. Source: CoinMarketCap*

The losses coincided with a technical issues related to ETHPoW's ChainID."

ChainIDs are identifiers that help users identify one blockchain from another. Thus, ETHPoW required a new ChainID to separate its transaction data from the original Ethereum blockchain after the Merge, otherwise, it risked creating duplicate transactions.

Lol EthPow miners set to wrong chainID, so they’re mining testnet https://t.co/IichaPURjr
— David Trrrrrrr (@daveytea) September 15, 2022

The team behind ETHPoW announced on Sep. 15 that its unique ChainID is 10001. However, data from Chainlist shows that a cryptocurrency project called Smart Bitcoin Cash, operating under the ticker BCHT, had the same ID. This issue resulted in errors on the Metamask cryptocurrency wallet.

The ETHPoW recognized the issue and adjusted the ChainID later on Sep. 15. However, several miners appeared to have pulled out despite a few major pools continuing to mine the PoW chain.

Notably, the ETHPoW hash rate fell to 66.64 TH/s on Sep. 16 after peaking at 80.56 TH/s earlier in the day.

*ETHPoW hashrate as of Sep. 16, 2022. Source: 2miners.com*

In comparison, the hash rate of Ethereum Classic (ETC), another PoW alternative for Ethereum miners, was 234.56 TH/s on Sep. 16 versus its peak near 310.5 TH/s the day before.

ETHW listed on some exchanges despite concerns

Eric Wall, the chief investment officer at cryptocurrency investment firm Arcane Assets, noted that ETHPoW miners could not sustain the chain at current ETHW prices. He explained:

The daily rewards are 13100 ETH, $354k instead of $20m. There is no way miners can just 'keep mining' the ETHPoW chain, no matter how you adjust the difficulty. There simply aren’t enough rewards in the system to pay for the electricity bills.

Nevertheless, ETHW was listed at some leading cryptocurrency exchanges, including FTX and Huobi. In addition, BitTrue has also introduced an ETHW-based liquidity staking service that offers depositors a 6% annual return.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Ethereum Classic books 12% rally as mining support for ETC gains pace

September 5, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

ETC price secures a double-digit gain as its hashrate hits a record-high and BTC.com adds a Ethereum Classic mining option to its services.

Ethereum Classic (ETC) price rallied on Sept. 5 on back-to-back positive reports concerning its adoption among crypto miners.

Top mining pool supports Ethereum Classic

On the daily chart, ETC's price surged 14.5% to nearly $37.25 per token. Its massive gains came days after BTC.com, a blockchain explorer and crypto mining pool, launched a specialized Ethereum Classic pool with "zero-fee" mining for three months.

*ETC/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

The announcement appeared after "the Merge," a long-awaited network update that would switch Ethereum's energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) protocol to a "cost-efficient" and scalable alternative, the proof-of-stake (PoS), on Sept. 19 or before.

But the switch to PoS will make Ethereum's PoW miners futile. On the other hand, Ethereum Classic, the original version of Ethereum, which still uses PoW, could become a haven for the miners affected by the Merge.

The network is already attracting PoW miners en masse, confirmed by its hashrate, which touched a record high of 41.81 Terrahash per second (TH/s) on Sept. 4. For the unversed, hashrate is the total computational power used to mine and process transactions on a PoW blockchain.

*Ethereum Classic hashrate. Source: CoinWarz*

This migration has helped ETC rally incredibly in recent months; it is up 200% since mid June.

ETC price could rise another 60%

From a technical perspective, Ethereum Classic looks ready to undergo a circa 60% price rally in September.

Notably, ETC's price has formed a "bull flag " in recent weeks. Bull flags appear when the price consolidates lower after a strong uptrend. Meanwhile, they resolve after the price breaks out in the direction of its previous trend and are thus considered bullish continuation patterns.

As of Sept. 5, ETC tested its bull flag's upper trendline for a potential breakout move. Suppose the token does it. Then, its likelihood of rising further will be higher. Also, as a rule of technical analysis, the price could rise by as much as the previous uptrend's length, as shown below.

*ETC/USD daily price chart featuring 'bull flag' breakout setup. Source: TradingView*

In other words, the ETC bull flag's profit target comes to be at around $58.50, up almost 60% from Sept. 5's price.

Conversely, a decisive break below the bull flag's lower trendline risks invalidating the upside setup explained above.

These 3 altcoins have completely ignored the bear market in the last 90 days

August 29, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin

Several altcoins have not only outperformed Bitcoin and Ethereum in the last three months but have also posted impressive gains.

The cryptocurrency market overall endured a bad summer on back-to-back pieces of bad news, ranging from Terra's (Luna) —now renamed Terra Classic (LUNC) — collapse to the Celsius Network's liquidity crisis. But some tokens have bucked the downtrend and have actually seen their valuations go up over the summer.

Specifically, the last 90 days have seen these so-called alternative cryptocurrencies, or "altcoins," outperforming top coins like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). Here are three among them:

Chiliz (CHZ)

Chiliz's (CHZ) return in the last 90 days comes to be above 80%, the highest among the top-cap cryptocurrencies. Moreover, CHZ is down only 26% year-to-date compared with BTC and ETH losing 57% and 60%, respectively.

*Cryptocurrency performance (last 90 days). Source: blockchaincenter.net*

On the daily chart, CHZ's price reached $0.20 per piece on Aug. 29, and was looking to close the month in profit. Conversely, from a technical perspective, the Chiliz token stares at a potential 55% correction to $0.09 in September, based on the setup shown below.

*CHZ/USD three-day price chart. Source: TradingView*

Originally, the CHZ price rally started amid a rebound witnessed across the crypto market. But ts upside move picked momentum on a flurry of optimistic updates, including a partnership with crypto exchange Huobi Global and a nearly 25% acquisition of FC Barcelona's Barça Studios.

FC Barcelona announces the sale of 24.5% of Barça Studios to the company https://t.co/SkC8g62KY4 for 100 million euros to accelerate the club’s audiovisual, blockchain, NFT and Web.3 strategy.

More details https://t.co/0sM9grct3L pic.twitter.com/5xcLWYg440
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 1, 2022

Chiliz also benefited from the hype around its back-to-back network updates as it attempts to do away with Ethereum and launch its own chain CHZ 2.0.

Lido DAO (LDO)

Lido DAO (LDO) has rallied around 60% in the last 90 days primarily due to the euphoria around "the Merge ," Ethereum's long-awaited network transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake in September.

Lido DAO helps underfunded users to become stakers on Ethereum's upcoming proof-of-stake chain. It does so by collecting users' Ether funds into a pool of 32 ETH—as required by the Ethereum network—and depositing them into the Merge's official smart contract.

*Ethereum 2.0 TVL staked by provider as of Aug. 28. Source: Glassnode*

The prospects of Lido DAO attracting more users in the days leading to and after the Merge have triggered buying in an otherwise bear market.

But like Chiliz, LDO's price risks plunging lower by 20% to $1.31 in September as shown in the setup below.

*CHZ/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

The $1.31-target serves as the support in the consolidation area marked in red, given its historical performance.

Quant Network (QNT)

Quant Network (QNT) rose by more than 40% in the last 90 days, initially driven higher by a broader crypto market uptrend but picking momentum on speculations that their interoperable blockchain protocol would find adoption across governmental and regulatory bodies.

⚔️ Group 2 — Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

Quant CEO @GVerdian has worked diligently to keep Overledger in compliance with all existing and forthcoming regulations, including the FATF’s framework for VASPs (see image).

☑️ Gilbert’s #FATF hashtag from 2019 says it all. ⬇️ https://t.co/0hvTDqAESh pic.twitter.com/F3Txe8rWPr
— Greg Lunt (@GregLunt27) July 8, 2022

But from a technical perspective, QNT risks a 40% price decline from its current price level owing to the formation of a head-and-shoulders setup on its daily chart with a $57 target by September, as shown below.

*QNT/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

Other winners

Ethereum Classic (ETC) has also surged by more than 40% in the last 90 days in hopes that it would offer a safe haven for Ethereum miners after the PoS upgrade.

WhilPolygon (MATIC) has rallied by 27% in the same period, followed by Uniswap (UNI), which is up 13%.

3 cryptocurrencies that stand to outperform ETH price thanks to Ethereum’s Merge

August 12, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

It's not just ETH price that stands to benefit from Ethereum's move to proof-of-stake in September.

After years of waiting, Ethereum is finally prepared to become a full-fledged proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain. Besides Ethereum's native token Ether (ETH), the valuation of several other tokens have not only benefited greatly, but could also keep outperforming ETH after the Merge.

Ethereum steps closer toward the Merge

The leading smart contract platform completed the last of its three public testnets dubbed "Goerli," on Aug. 11. Therefore, there should be no delays in Ethereum's "Merge," expected to go live on Sep. 19.

Ether price jumped 5% to approximately $1,950, its highest level in over two months, after the Goerli update. Meanwhile, certain crypto assets that could benefit from a successful Merge are undergoing upside moves, and have even been outperforming ETH in the past month.

*ETH/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

Will these tokens continue to outperform ETH price into September? Let's take a closer look.

Lido DAO (LDO)

The Merge will replace Ethereum's army of miners with validators, who will be required to front 32 ETH as an economic stake.

This major staking requirement has opened up opportunities for middlemen, i.e., platforms that collect Ether from underfunded stakers and put the proceeds together to become validator on the Ethereum blockchain. Lido DAO is one among them.

Lido DAO is the leading staking service in terms of value locked inside Merge's official smart contract. Notably, it has poured 4.15 million ETH into the so-called ETH 2.0 contract, leading Coinbase, which has staked approx. 1.55 million ETH on behalf of its clients.

*ETH 2.0 total value staked by provider. Source: Glassnode*

A successful Merge could boost the demand for Lido DAO services.

In turn, it could prove bullish for the platform's official governance token, LDO, whose value had already soared by more than 200% since July 14, when Ethereum first announced the likelihood of becoming a PoS chain in September.

*LDO/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

Therefore, LDO is one of the primary crypto assets that could benefit the most from Ethereum's successful transition to POS.

Ethereum Classic (ETC)

Ethereum Classic (ETC) is another asset that has grabbed the bulls' attention in recent weeks. That is primarily due to its potential to provide a haven for miners exiting the Ethereum network.

Since Ethereum Classic is the split chain from a contentious hard fork in 2016, it exhibits almost all the technical qualities of the current, PoW Ethereum network, making it a natural refuge for ETH miners.

Like LDO, ETC has also rallied by over 200% since the Ethereum's Merge launch announcement on July 14. Therefore, its likelihood of continuing its uptrend is high ahead and after the Merge.

Optimism (OP)

Optimism is an Ethereum rollup service. In other words, it aggregates mass transaction data off-chain into batches and releases results back to the Ethereum mainnet when a consensus is reached.

The so-called layer-2 solution could benefit from Ethereum's "Rollup-Centric Roadmap" after the Merge. Interestingly, OP, Optimism's governance token, has rallied nearly 250% since the Merge release date announcement.

*OP/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

The prospects of Ethereum deploying Optimism on its network after the Merge could serve as a bullish catalyst for OP price.

Ethereum chain split is possible after the Merge, survey finds — But will ETC price keep climbing?

July 29, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

Ethereum Classic is a relatively smaller PoW chain compared to Ethereum in terms of usage and hash rate.

Ethereum's proof-of-work (PoW) powered by GPUs generated approximately $19 billion in revenue last year for ETH miners. But these revenue streams are in danger as Ethereum is expected to become a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain via "the Merge" upgrade in September.

Miners could then revolt against the new upgrade by continuing to mine on the old Ethereum PoW after the hard fork chain split.

A survey from crypto hedge fund Galois Capital recently revealed that 33.1% of respondents believe that the Merge would create two parallel blockchains: ETH1 (PoW) and ETH2 (PoS).

Question 1: What happens during the merge? If Choice 2 or 3 go to Questions 2-5.
— Galois Capital (@Galois_Capital) July 27, 2022

Nevertheless, most respondents, or 53.7%, expect Ethereum's chain to smoothly transition from PoW to PoS.

Is the ETH1 PoW "illogical"?

But contentious hard forks aren't anything new. In fact, the current Ethereum chain came to be in 2016 following a controversial hard fork aimed at reversing a $60 million exploit, resulting in a chain split between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic (ETC).

This is where the argument of Ethereum Classic versus ETH1 begins. Since Ethereum Classic is already a PoW chain, creating a similar chain, ETH1, will not have "much relevance," according to some Redditors.

Several other comments from Reddit explaining why ETH1 will fail include:

ETH1 will not attract users;
Decentralized finance (DeFi and the nonfungible token (NFT) sector will collapse on a PoW chain; and
Traders will dump ETH1 tokens to stake more ETH.

Meanwhile, most respondents in the Galois Capital survey also believe that exchanges and projects (especially Tether) will support ETH2 over ETH1 in the event of a hard fork.

Question 4: How do exchanges handle perps and futs?
— Galois Capital (@Galois_Capital) July 27, 2022

What does it mean for Ethereum Classic?

After reaching a record high in May 2022, the Ethereum network's hash rate has been downtrend ev, indicating that miners are pausing or shutting down their rigs in the weeks leading up to the Merge.

On the other hand, they could also be becoming stakers on the Ethereum's PoS chain.

*Ethereum hash rate performance since September 2021. Source: YCharts*

The miners' exit from the Ethereum network is visible in the recent increase in GPU sales in the secondary market (against lower demand), according to Tom's Hardware GPU Pricing Index.

Nonetheless, there's also an uptick in the number of social media threads that shows the miners' strategy after the Merge will likely be to switch to whatever PoW chain is more profitable.

As of July 29, Ethereum Classic was topping miners' interest for its 116% weekly profitability, data on WhatToMine.com shows.

Amazing - miner revenue/hash in USD for ETC has just surpassed that for ETH... (chart @coinmetrics) pic.twitter.com/x5RJs7lUrj
— Noelle Acheson (@NoelleInMadrid) July 29, 2022

Simultaneously, the price of ETC has soared by more than 200% in July.

But that does not take away the fact that Ethereum Classic is a very small project compared to Ethereum.

As of June 29, the Ethereum Classic had over 53,000 daily active addresses versus Ethereum's 763,000.

*Ethereum Classic daily active addresses. Source: BitInfoCharts.com*

The difference suggests that ETC's ongoing price boom is purely speculative since Ethereum Classic remains largely underutilized as a chain and with only a handful of projects. Therefore, ETC is certainly at risk of a "sell the news" event after the Merge.

At the same time, a potential ETH1 PoW chain may also push down demand for ETC.

ETC price target

On the weekly chart, ETC's price has reached a resistance confluence, awaiting a breakout as the euphoria surrounding the Merge grows.

The confluence comprises the 0.786 Fib line (~$43) and a multi-month descending trendline. Both have historically capped ETC's bullish attempts in the past, as the chart below illustrates.

Nonetheless, a breakout move increases the token's potential to hit $75 next, due to its proximity to the 0.618 Fib line.

*ETC/USD weekly price chart. Source: TradingView*

Conversely, a pullback move from either the resistance confluence or the 0.618 Fib line could have ETC eye a drop toward the support area illustrated above. It is defined by the red bar, the multi-year rising trendline support (purple), and the descending channel's lower trendline (green).

In other words, ETC risks dropping toward the $10–$12 area by September, down 75% from July's price.

Ethereum Classic soars 100% in nine days outperforming ETH as ‘the Merge’ approaches

July 22, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin

Ethereum's transition to proof-of-stake could be a boon for the price of Ethereum Classic.

Ethereum Classic (ETC) has been outperforming its arch-rival Ethereum's native token Ether (ETH) during the current crypto market rebound with the ETC/ETH pairs at 10-month highs.

Why is ETC beating ETH?

ETC's price has risen to $27 on July 22, amounting to a 100% gain in nine days after bottoming out at $13.35. Comparatively, ETH's price has seen a 64% rally in U.S. dollar terms.

*ETC/USD versus ETH/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

Ethereum's rebound has been among the sharpest among the top cryptocurrencies, primarily due to the euphoria surrounding its potential network upgrade in September.

Dubbed "the Merge," the long-awaited technical update will switch Ethereum from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS).

Anyone who believes the #Ethereum #Merge is priced in is smoking crack.

Nothing is priced-in in crypto, especially an event as convoluted and unprecedented as this.

But If I were a betting man, I’d say $ETH goes up prior to Merge, drops on Merge (unlocked coins), then goes
— Jeremy Gardner (@Disruptepreneur) July 21, 2022

Moreover, it will replace miners with stakers. As a result, the PoS switch could force existing Ethereum miners to switch to PoW chains.

Unsurprisingly, Ethereum Classic is the closest to Ethereum in terms of network design and compatibility because Ethereum Classic is the legacy chain split from Ethereum following a contentious hard fork in July 2016.

Speculators are thus anticipating Ethereum Classic to become the first choice for miners migrating from Ethereum, and this is likely one of the main reasons ETC's recent price surge.

#ETC is not just pumping. It has a FIXED monetary policy! It is programmable! Yes all Dapps on #ETH can run on $ETC. After the #ETH 2.0 merge, miners like myself will call #EthereumClassic home. Retweet for CodeIsLaw! pic.twitter.com/sABGc72NUk
— Patient Money (@MoonTigerSt) July 19, 2022

ETC price technicals lean short-term bearish

From a technical standpoint, Ethereum Classic has been reeling under the pressure of its 200-day exponential moving average (200-day EMA; the blue wave in the chart below) near $27.35.

ETC/USD has witnessed a strong bearish rejection near the wave resistance on July 19, confirmed by the largest spike in its daily trading volume in almost a year. In addition, the rejection came after testing the 0.382 Fib line at around $27.47 as resistance.

ETC now consolidates inside the $22–$25 price range with its interim bias skewed toward the downside due to an "overbought" relative strength index (RSI).

ETC eyes a decline toward its 50-day EMA (the red wave) near $19 if it decisively breaks below $22—over 25% lower than July 22's price.

Conversely, a successful break above $25 and the 200-day EMA could have ETC's price rally over $30.

Ethereum Classic price has nearly doubled days after Digital Currency Group’s $50M bet

June 30, 2021 Coin Telegraph

<div>Ethereum Classic price has nearly doubled days after Digital Currency Group's M bet</div>

Barry Silbert

The gains also appear amid an overall crypto market recovery following Bitcoin's sharp rebound from $30,000-support.

Ethereum Classic (ETC) reached its highest level in almost three weeks Wednesday, buoyed by Barry Silbert-backed Digital Currency Group's $50 million investment and by an overall cryptocurrency market recovery led by Bitcoin (BTC).

The 17th-largest cryptocurrency by market value traded as high as $63.19 — a nearly 98% rise from its June 22 low of $31.91. Meanwhile, the market value of all the Ethereum Classic tokens in circulation crossed $7.53 billion.

$ETC was part of the 1%.

+65% since Barry told us he was buying. https://t.co/gIa8FAeUQM
— Hsaka (@HsakaTrades) June 30, 2021

Digital Currency Group (DCG) revealed on June 21 that it has authorized the purchase of up to a total of $50M worth of shares of Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust (OTCQX: ETCG). Grayscale is a New York-based investment firm that provides accredited investors access to digital currency products in the form of traditional securities.

*Grayscale ETC holdings . Source: Bybt.com*

On the day of the announcement, Ethereum Classic fell by 22.56%, much in line with the rest of the cryptocurrency market, which, in turn, was responding to China's increasing crackdown on the regional crypto sector, including a complete ban of mining-related activities.

But despite the heavy sell-off, the Bitcoin and altcoin markets bounced back in tandem. Traders particularly recognized buying opportunities in the Bitcoin market as BTC/USD slipped below $30,000—a psychological support level that lately kept the pair's downside bias from flourishing any deeper.

*Bitcoin has been trading between $30K and $40K since May 19. Source: TradingView.com*

Meanwhile, altcoins merely tailed the Bitcoin rebound owing to their high correlation with the top digital asset.

According to data provided by Crypto Watch, the 30-day correlation efficiency between Bitcoin and Ethereum's Ether (ETH) was 0.83 on Wednesday. A reading of 1 represents a perfect positive correlation between two assets.

Copycat hard fork

ETC's gains also appeared in days leading up to a major Ethereum Classic blockchain upgrade in July.

In detail, Ethereum Classic emerged from a controversial blockchain split that followed an approximately $150 million hack on the Ethereum-based DAO project in April 2016. The Vitalik Buterin team proposed to wipe out the attack from the Ethereum network history — a ledger rewrite that portrayed Ethereum as a centralized blockchain.

That led to the formation of two Ethereum camps: one that supported the reverting of chain and the other that didn't. In the end, the differences led to the formation of two competing yet independent Ethereum chains, one of them being the Ethereum Classic.

ETC's structure as a blockchain project varies from its competitors. Unlike Ethereum, ETC incorporates multiple development teams, including IOHK, ETC Cooperative, ETC Labs, etc. In general, most of these teams have focused on providing scaling solutions.

At the same time, their priority also remains to improve development tools (SDKs) and promoting cross-chain transactions so other projects can also build on Ethereum Classic.

On June 10, Steven Lohja, the lead developer at Mantis IOHK, announced to upgrade the Ethereum Classic blockchain with a hard fork called Magneto. The major update, as Lohja confessed, would be inclusive of the Ethereum Berlin upgrade features introduced earlier this year.

The Ethereum Classic's improvement proposals tend to improve the blockchain's network security while cutting down on its gas fees — it does so by storing addresses and keys in one place for users to access with a single transaction.

The ETC hard fork will go live in July, much in sync with Ethereum's London upgrade around the same period.

ETC technical setup

The latest ETC/USD rebound has come closer to invalidating a classic bearish setup that prevailed earlier.

*ETC price was approaching $16.62 following its strong breakdown from the previous triangle range. Source: TradingView.com*

The ETC/USD exchange rate bounced mid-way upon breaking its previously prevailing descending triangle setup. The pair found support right above its 200-day simple moving average (200-day SMA; the orange wave in the chart above) and moved higher to close above the triangle support around $51.77.

What's more, the rebound flipped ETC/USD's 20-day exponential moving average (20-day EMA; the green wave) from resistance to support. It now appears to do the same with the 50-day SMA (the blue wave) acting as resistance.

On the other hand, adjusting the triangle's support trendline lower makes it appear like a bullish falling wedge pattern.

*ETC/USD hints falling wedge breakout. Source: TradingView.com*

ETC/USD has broken bullish out of the pattern, much in line with its classic definition. A strong follow-through could have the pair rise by as much as the maximum Wedge height, i.e., the total maximum distance between its upper and lower trendline. It comes to be around $86.

That shifts the ETC/USD wedge profit target near $130.

Conversely, a potential reversal from 50-day SMA could have ETC/USD test the 20-day EMA as its interim support. Such a move would also risk invalidating the falling wedge structure.

Ethereum Classic gains 300% in one week as traders rush to buy the ‘wrong Ethereum’

May 7, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

The "original" Ethereum, despite its security issues, beats ETH as it ascends to USD levels never seen before.

The “original” yet ironically "wrong" Ethereum and Telcoin (TEL) are leading a fresh altcoin surge this week. Bitcoin (BTC) fans are already calling time on the fun.

Ethereum Classic (ETC), the pet favorite of Digital Currency Group founder Barry Silbert, is up 300% in a week.

ETC hits $180: Bull market or "casino market"?

In the latest incarnation of the 2021 “alt season,” altcoins are passing the torch between each other as investors chase optimal gains.

This year has also seen a curious shift in market focus from a token’s use case to the culture around it. This was epitomized with Dogecoin (DOGE), the high flyer of 2021, which has gained over 7,000% since January.

Memes and other social triggers likewise seem to be driving progress in this week’s round of breakouts, with ETC exploding in value without any noticeable changes. TEL has benefited from a successful layer-2 migration.

“Casino market hypothesis,” Blockstream CEO Adam Back responded during a Twitter debate about why the altcoin market was delivering such results.

As Cointelegraph reported, Back had also referred to luck of the draw as driving DOGE’s rise in fortunes.

Others noted that investment in ETC, in particular, may not only be short-sighted but dangerous: in its four-year existence, its blockchain has suffered multiple 51% attacks, pointing to a lack of security and resilience which is absent from Bitcoin and the “newer” Ethereum (ETH).

Price volatility was also recorded, with ETC trading at a giant 50% premium on Coinbase as prices took off on Wednesday.

*ETC/USD 1-day candle chart (Binance). Source: Tradingview*

Nonetheless, fans were unperturbed and appeared not to be in a hurry to exit their positions.

Last week, dad told me he bought $ETC at $30 and I told him he bought the wrong Ethereum and there's no usecase or adoption at all.
He sold it immediately after and it's now at $140.
Gonna disown myself first before he gets to do it.
— Squeeze (@cryptoSqueeze) May 7, 2021

Silbert himself reminded Twitter followers of ETC’s price journey since inception in 2016 — from $0.50 to over $180, and a three-year high against Bitcoin.

Asked if he was “happy” with what had happened, Silbert said that Thursday had been a “good day.”

ETC is now the 13th largest cryptocurrency by market cap, having begun the year in 38th position. Spillover from increased interest in ETH is a constant topic when it comes to its legacy parent, with data from sentiment resource TheTIE showing that ETH tweet volumes surpassed those involving BTC for the first time.

*Tweet volume chart for BTC (green), ETH (red), ETC (blue). Source: TheTIE*

"Classic" altcoins emerge from hibernation

Meanwhile, Bitcoin is repeating moves of a different, less favorable kind as the week draws to a close. Having once again failed to tackle resistance at near $60,000, BTC/USD was back at $56,000 on Friday, having dropped to lows of $55,400.

Despite the relative lack of upside, however, longtime market participants remain wholly signed up to the bull market mentality.

“BTC, ETH and the whole market keep pumping and pumping, unreal,” Simon Dedic, managing partner at blockchain advisory and investment firm Moonrock Capital, summarized on Thursday.

“After 2 years of bear market, you learn to appreciate every single day of a bull market. Don’t take this market for granted. Stay humble, stay thankful, stay rational.”

As Cointelegraph reported, many altcoins on the market longest of all have seen a return to form in recent weeks.

ETC price

ETHW price down 65% amid "ChainID" fiasco

ETHW listed on some exchanges despite concerns

Top mining pool supports Ethereum Classic

ETC price could rise another 60%

Chiliz (CHZ)

Lido DAO (LDO)

Quant Network (QNT)

Other winners

Ethereum steps closer toward the Merge

Lido DAO (LDO)

Ethereum Classic (ETC)

Optimism (OP)

Is the ETH1 PoW "illogical"?

What does it mean for Ethereum Classic?

ETC price target

Why is ETC beating ETH?

ETC price technicals lean short-term bearish

Copycat hard fork

ETC technical setup

ETC hits $180: Bull market or "casino market"?

"Classic" altcoins emerge from hibernation

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