Trade Ethereum Classic to US Dollar â ETC/USD CFD
The price of ethereum classic (ETC) rose rapidly on 6 May, soaring to an all-time high of $176 from the $70 level on 5 May.On the same day, ether (ETH) also set a record, reaching $3,500 a coin.However, while ETH proceeded to hit new highs, eventually touching $4,362 on 12 May, ETC started losing value quickly.The coin ended 16 June trading at $55.27.
So, what is the difference between ETH that runs on the Ethereum blockchain and ETC? And what has been driving the value of ethereum classic so far in 2021?
This article looks at the development of the ETC cryptocurrency and predictions for its price over the long term.
Original Ethereum blockchain diverges after split The Ethereum blockchain was launched in 2015 after two years of development by co-founders Vitalik Buterin and Gavin Wood, along with Charles Hoskinson and Anthony Di Iorio.
Ethereum Classic was created from a hard fork in the Ethereum blockchain in July 2016, as participants in the blockchain disagreed over how to respond to a hack of the decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) that resulted in the theft of 3.6 million ether coins.
Ethereum Classic is a continuation of the original blockchain, as it did not revert the blockchain to cancel out the impact of the hack.The participants held to the principle that ‘code is law’, while what is now the Ethereum blockchain was created by the split.Miners and exchanges supported both the blockchains, allowing the Ethereum Classic legacy network to continue with ETC as its native coin.
The two blockchains have diverged as the Ethereum blockchain moves towards a series of updates to create Ethereum 2.0, including a shift to proof of stake (PoS) mining algorithm from the proof of work (PoW) algorithm used by Bitcoin.Â
There are no plans for Ethereum Classic to convert to PoS.There is no official development team for Ethereum Classic, but multiple development groups are working on updates to the open-source code.
Recent attacks have affected the ecosystem, prompting blockchain infrastructure research and engineering company IOHK, founded by Charles Hoskinson, to launch the Mantis project to roll out upgrades and support the community.Â
Ethereum Classic operates as a smart contract network and can host decentralised applications (DApps).
As the ETC price rises, the rewards miners receive for verifying blocks increase, incentivising more miners to join the network and increase its network security.
As activity on the Ethereum Classic blockchain fell, it became more vulnerable to attack.In January 2019, there was a double spend of $1m in ETC on the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange in a 51% attack, which can only occur if one entity or collective owns at least 51% of the network.Coinbase and several other exchanges paused ETC transactions and the price dropped in response.
ETC price hikes to fresh high in 2021 The ETC price was $2.08 when the blockchain split in July 2016.
The price had fallen to $0.75 by November 2016, where it bottomed out.It then trended higher, accelerating to reach $46 by December 2017.The subsequent crash took the price back down to $3.76 by December 2018.Â
After the 51% attack in January 2019, ETC rose steadily to reach $9.33 by June, then fell back to $3.54 at the end of the year.The price climbed to $12.34 in February 2020, its highest level since 2018.A broad sell-off in cryptocurrencies saw the price drop to $4.51 in March 2020, and ETC traded in a range between $4-$6 for the rest of the year.
The latest crypto rally and the renewed development activity on the Ethereum Classic blockchain have lifted the ETC price sharply since the beginning of 2021.
Emergency upgrades by the Core-Geth protocol provider and the relaunch of the Mantis client have increased confidence in the stability of the blockchain.
On 26 April, the NOWPayments cryptocurrency payments gateway added ETC and developers have started to launch non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Ethereum Classic.
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Create account The ETC price climbed to $16.90 in February and traded between $9.94 and $14 until the end of March.The price spiked to $46.68 on 17 April, fell back to $29.73 by 25 April, then hit a high of $71.93 on 4 May.The rally did not stop there and on 6 May the cryptocurrency set a new record of $176.Â
However, after reaching an historical high, ETC lost its upward momentum and started trending lower, falling to $45.16 by 23 May.After bottoming out, the coin quickly soared higher to reach $82.42 on 26 May.
However, the rally was short-lived, with ETC eventually falling to $55.27 on 16 June.
But even at this price, the coin was still up 873% year to date.
At the time of writing, 17 June, ETC was trading at $56.85.
Where next for the price? Will it pull back after the strong rally or continue to climb?
Ethereum classic price prediction: is the rally sustainable? Short-term technical analysis from CoinCodex indicates bearish sentiment around the ETC price.The coinâs nearest short-term technical support level is at $54.02, with resistance nearby at $57.29, indicating the potential to move up to $60.55.
For a long-term outlook, the ETC coin prediction from algorithm-based forecasting site WalletInvestor shows the price hovering around the $56 level in July and August, subsequently rising to end 2021 at $64.95.It predicts the cryptocurrency will trade at $89.57 by December 2022 and rise to $163.31 by the end of 2025.
Digitalcoin is far more bullish.
It predicts the ETC price will continue to climb, averaging $87.58 in 2021.Its ETC forecast estimates the price will double from the 2021 average to reach $170.24 by 2025.Over the longer term, the coinâs value is forecast to average $253.76 in 2028.
The ETC prediction from Gov Capital puts the price at $55.12 by December 2021, rising to $70.59 by December 2022 and $145.00 by December 2025.
The prediction for the Ethereum Classic future price from Long Forecast expects even more volatility ahead.It foresees the price will climb in 2021 to end the year at $105.3, then decline to $62.8 by November 2022, before ticking up to $83 in January 2023.
The site predicts ETC will trade at $78.7 by the end of 2023 before falling to $40.6 by July 2025.
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