The price of Ethereum Classic (ETC) has increased by more than 90% since the merge date was announced, nearly doubling from R234 to R469. The increase follows new support from AntPool, the largest mining pool, and escalating sentiments regarding Ethereum miners’ migration to Ethereum Classic.
Moreover, Ethereum Classic is backed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Digital Currency Group, and Grayscale’s Barry Silbert, but the position of IOHK, Cardano, and Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson is unknown.
The ETC price has risen 15% in the previous 24 hours, and it is now trading at R461.
On July 27, AntPool, a mining pool affiliated with mining rig major Bitmain, committed R167 million to the Ethereum Classic ecosystem while pledging to contribute more. According to Leon Lv, CEO of AntPool, the classic ecosystem can benefit from high-quality proof-of-work (PoW) projects and layer-2 scalability via scaling solutions.
Bitmain has even declared that it will accept ETC payments for all of its Antminer models. The company recently began selling its Antminer E9 Ethereum mining model.
Furthermore, at the EthCC conference, Vitalik Buterin indicated support for Ethereum Classic while outlining plans for the impending Merge. Buterin argues that Classic is a “totally fine chain,” and anyone who prefers PoW can utilize the Ethereum Classic blockchain.
Because Ethereum’s move to PoS will render ETH miners obsolete following the Merge, miners will most likely switch to Ethereum Classic. Because of better security, the transfer of miners to Ethereum Classic will solve the 51 % attack vulnerability. However, the price action would not be similar to that of Ethereum (ETH).
Furthermore, Barry Silbert’s backing for ETH Classic will be significant, as Grayscale holds over 10 million ETC. The price rise may be seen after the bear market and the Merge.
While the community awaits the much-anticipated Ethereum Merge on September 19, the pricing movement of Ethereum will be very different from what it is currently.
After the merge, Ethereum will be deflationary, and its circulating supply will decrease due to the EIP-1559 burning process. Under the correct conditions, it would most certainly push up prices as the project progresses.
