Ethereum Classic has re-entered the spotlight as traders and miners position ahead of Ethereum’s long-anticipated shift away from proof-of-work. According to the source material, ETC gained 124.2% against the U.S. dollar over the past two weeks, far outpacing ETH’s 45.7% rise during the same period. The move comes as market participants increasingly speculate that miners currently securing Ethereum with Ethash hardware may eventually redirect that capacity to Ethereum Classic once Ethereum completes the Merge.
Even after the sharp rally, the bigger picture remains mixed. ETC is still reported to be down 34% year-to-date and remains roughly 80% below its all-time high of $167 per coin. That contrast highlights the speculative nature of the recent surge: momentum has clearly returned, but the asset is still recovering from a much deeper drawdown.
Merge Expectations Are Fueling the ETC Narrative
The central reason behind ETC’s renewed attention is simple: Ethereum Classic and Ethereum have historically shared the same Ethash proof-of-work consensus algorithm. As Ethereum prepares to transition away from PoW, miners who can no longer generate ether rewards under the old model are widely expected to look for alternative networks that can support their existing hardware. Ethereum Classic is one of the most obvious destinations.
The report notes that when the preliminary Merge date was penciled in during mid-July, ETC’s network hashrate stood at 17.39 TH/s. It has since climbed to 20.88 TH/s, representing an increase of about 20%. During the week, the network even reached 21.41 TH/s. Rising hashrate is often read as a sign of stronger miner participation and improved chain security, so the trend has reinforced the bullish case for ETC among short-term traders.
There is also historical context to consider. Ethereum Classic’s all-time high hashrate was 28.53 TH/s, recorded on May 7, 2021, at block height 12,695,074. With current hashrate growth accelerating, the network appears to be moving closer to that level again. Whether it can reclaim or exceed the previous record will likely depend on how many miners ultimately decide ETC offers the best post-Merge economics.
Trading Activity Shows Strong Support From Korea
Market structure data in the article reveals another notable theme: Korean traders are playing a major role in ETC activity. USDT is ETC’s largest trading pair, accounting for 59.17% of trading volume. The second-largest is the Korean won, at 20.82%, followed by the U.S. dollar at 7.84%. That makes KRW a significant source of liquidity for the asset and suggests that Korean exchanges are central to the current burst of interest.
Platform-level figures reinforce that point. On Bithumb, 11.53% of exchange volume reportedly comes from ETC swaps. On Upbit, ETC trading against the Korean won represents 22.96% of the exchange’s total volume. Those are substantial shares and indicate that retail and speculative demand in South Korea may be amplifying ETC’s recent move.
For market observers, this matters because regional concentration can shape volatility. A strong KRW share may indicate highly engaged local traders, but it can also mean price behavior becomes more sensitive to sentiment shifts within one market. In the short term, though, Korean demand appears to be supporting ETC’s resurgence.
Low Fees Help the Case, but DeFi Remains Minimal
Another advantage cited in the source is transaction cost. Ethereum Classic remains dramatically cheaper to use than Ethereum on a per-transfer basis. The article states that Ethereum’s average fee was 0.002 ETH, or about $3.31, while Ethereum Classic’s average fee stood at just 0.000096 ETC, or roughly $0.0031 per transfer. That difference gives ETC a practical low-cost appeal, particularly for simple transfers and basic on-chain actions.
However, low fees have not translated into a deep application ecosystem. In decentralized finance, Ethereum Classic is still a very small player. The report says Ethereum’s total value locked reached $56.62 billion, representing more than 65% of the $87.56 billion locked across blockchains supporting DeFi protocols. By contrast, Ethereum Classic’s TVL on July 27 was only $175,483, according to DefiLlama data cited in the piece.
The gap extends beyond capital. Ethereum Classic is reported to have only three DeFi applications, compared with 523 protocols on Ethereum. More than 92% of the value locked on ETC is concentrated in Hebeswap, an automated token exchange. The remaining TVL—just $12,366—is spread across Etcswap and Swap Cat. In practical terms, that means ETC’s recent momentum is currently being driven much more by mining and trading narratives than by application-layer adoption.
Supply Cap Offers a Distinct Identity
One of Ethereum Classic’s long-standing differentiators is its monetary structure. Unlike Ethereum, which the article describes as having an infinite supply model, ETC has a fixed supply cap of 210,700,000 coins. At the time of the report, 136,026,596 ETC were already in circulation, leaving 74,673,404 ETC still to be mined.
For some investors, a capped supply can strengthen the asset’s narrative as a scarce proof-of-work alternative, especially when paired with the possibility of increased miner support after the Merge. That does not guarantee sustained adoption, but it does help ETC maintain a distinct position in the market rather than being viewed solely as a legacy fork.
ETC Still Trails ETH by a Wide Margin
Despite the recent rally, Ethereum Classic remains much smaller than Ethereum in nearly every meaningful category. The article emphasizes that Ethereum’s network, developer base, and community are far larger. The market capitalization figures tell the same story. Ethereum, the second-largest crypto asset by market cap, was valued at $193.36 billion, representing 17.7% of the $1 trillion crypto economy referenced in the report. Ethereum Classic, by comparison, had a market capitalization of just $4.39 billion, or 0.402% of the overall market.
This disparity is important when evaluating ETC’s future. A rising token price and climbing hashrate can improve confidence, but long-term competitiveness usually depends on developer activity, application growth, liquidity depth, and user adoption. On those fronts, ETC still has substantial ground to cover.
What the Recent Rally May Actually Mean
The current ETC rally appears to be driven by a combination of speculative positioning, miner migration expectations, and strong exchange activity—especially from Korea. The hashrate increase suggests that at least some miners are already moving resources toward the network or preparing to do so. The price action indicates that traders are willing to front-run that possibility.
Still, the sustainability of this move will likely depend on what follows after the initial excitement. If miners continue to find ETC economically attractive, the network could benefit from stronger security and renewed attention from developers. If not, the rally may prove to be more of a short-cycle repricing event than the beginning of a structural transformation.
For now, the numbers are difficult to ignore: 124.2% price growth in two weeks, hashrate rising to 20.88 TH/s, and KRW accounting for more than one-fifth of ETC trading volume. Ethereum Classic may still be much smaller than Ethereum, but ahead of the Merge, it has clearly become one of the market’s most closely watched proof-of-work assets.