This is the event of the day, if not the last few years. Ethereum (ETH) is moving to proof-of-stake with The Merge, a step that was particularly anticipated by the community. And former ETH miners are looking for new options… Including Ethereum Classic (ETC), which has seen its hashrate soar. Will this be reflected in its price?
Ethereum Classic hashrate soars…
According to data collected by CoinWarz, the hashrate, i.e. the computing power used on the Ethereum Classic network, has now reached 68.86 Th/s. As a reminder, the higher the hashrate, the greater the number of miners on the network.
Figure 1: Ethereum Classic hashrate soars ahead of The Merge
It makes sense: miners who used to focus on ETH are looking for new blockchains. And Ethereum Classic, which is the “original” version of Ethereum, seems a natural choice. The network has indeed chosen to continue with its proof-of-work consensus mechanism.
It should be remembered that Ethereum Classic is not widely used, and this rush to the network seems to be strictly motivated by the lure of profit. It is a way for former ETH miners to make their machines profitable.
.. but not its price
The proof is that this renewed craze has not allowed the ETC price to take off. It has, however, experienced high volatility since the end of last month. The cryptocurrency experienced a significant pump in early September, taking +33% in the space of a day… Before falling just as sharply the next day.
Figure 2: ETC price plays rollercoaster as The Merge approaches
In the end, ETC’s share price is down 14% for the month, and down 36% for the year. This would seem to indicate that The Merge will not necessarily allow the network to progress. But of course nothing is certain. It will also have to count on EthPoW, a hard fork of Ethereum supposed to gather those who wish to continue to use the proof of work.
Will this renewed interest in ETC mining last? It’s doubtful, as Ethereum Classic has been getting little press in recent years. We’ll probably have to wait a few weeks to see how Ethereum miners have migrated, and to which chains.
