$1.7 billion inflows Ethereum Classic market cap in a week as ETC gains momentum

Ethereum Classic (ETC) continues to attract more interest among cryptocurrency investors ahead of the Merge upgrade on the main Ethereum blockchain. The interest is highlighted by the ETC buying pressure that has culminated in significant capital inflow into the token. 

In particular, as of July 30, the Ethereum Classic market capitalization stood at $5.33 billion, representing an inflow of $1.69 billion or a 46% growth from the $3.64 billion recorded on July 23. 

Besides the market cap surge, ETC’s value has also been on the rise, with the token at some point gaining by over 50% within a week. By press time, ETC was trading at $40 with gains of 51% within the last seven days. 

The Merge upgrade impact on ETC

Over the past week, ETC has generally exhibited a rapid upward movement. Besides the overall crypto market rally boost, the Merge upgrade has triggered ETC bulls. Notably, the upgrade will transition the Ethereum blockchain from relying on the energy-intensive Proof-of-Work (PoW) protocol to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanism. 

Therefore, ETC has the potential to accommodate migrating Ethereum miners since they will need minor changes to start mining on Ethereum Classic. 

It is also expected that the current Ethereum hash rate would likely transition to the ETC network, making it the most convenient option for migrating miners as it prevents their equipment from becoming useless.

Support from Vitalik Buterin

Furthermore, the capital inflow and price rally comes after Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin supported ETC, noting that the network has room to accommodate PoW miners. Buterin endorsed ETC, stating that the blockchain is a better PoW alternative to Ethereum. 

“If you want to cancel Proof of Stake, we are not going to cancel you. There’s Ethereum Classic, which is the original Ethereum. It’s a very welcoming community and I think they’ll definitely welcome proof-of-work fans <…> If you like proof-of-work, you should go use Ethereum Classic. It’s a totally fine chain,” said Buterin.

Overall, the ongoing ETC rally is consistent with a history of upward price movement around the time of major Ethereum upgrades. For instance, in April 2021, ETC’s rally significantly coincided with Ethereum’s Berlin upgrade.

With the anticipated entry of Ethereum miners, the ETC network developers have also received support to improve the blockchain. Finbold reported that Leon Lv, the CEO of AntPool, the mining pool affiliated with major cryptocurrency mining hardware giant Bitmain revealed that the company had invested $10 million in the ETC ecosystem.

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