ETC, the cryptocurrency of a network called Ethereum Classic designed to continue the original chain of the Ethereum network, has overtaken two dominant digital currencies Ripple and Steem to become the third largest cryptocurrency in the market.
The market cap of Ethereum Classic which is at US$240 million at the time of writing, continued to surge over the past few days due to the overwhelming support of the Ethereum and Bitcoin communities.
Bitcoin core developers including Greg Maxwell cited the negative precedents the Ethereum hard fork have set for the entire digital currency industry and voiced their support for Ethereum Classic.
With the support of developers, exchanges steadily began to offer services for Ethereum Classic, launching live ETC trading for both casual and professional traders. A few of the largest exchanges in the cryptocurrency market have already launched ETC trading, a few of the including Kraken and Poloniex.
Surge in Volume
The wide range of support from major exchanges have led to a continuous increase in the daily volume of ETC across many platforms, with 24-hour volume substantially higher than the volume of Ethereum trading. Currently, the volume of ETC is at around US$102 million, while Ethereum remains at US$50 million.
The popularity and spike in volume is suspected to have increased after the announcement of major miners in China to support Ethereum Classic and protect the chain from any 51% attacks.
51% attacks, also called majority hash power attack, can provide hackers the ability to prevent transactions being confirmed if executed properly.
Chandler Guo on Wechat: 180 degree flip on ETC 51% attack pic.twitter.com/vCBlh4XQHY
— cnLedger (@cnLedger) July 31, 2016
With Ethereum Classic receiving support from the developers, users, exchanges, and miners, experts believe the cryptocurrency is on its way towards parity.
