Ethereum Classic rallied over 30% to $33 in the last 24 hours, as per CoinGecko, whereas, Ether, on the other hand, surged more than 16% to $1,655 as Ethereum’s long-anticipated software upgrade has pushed up the prices of the respective cryptocurrencies in the recent days.
Ethereum Classic, which was created after a 2016 software change known as a hard fork on Ethereum’s blockchain. Ether price has also surged as the crypto industry awaits the blockchain’s biggest transition, also called the Merge, which could take place in September after being kicked down the road for several years.
The Merge is set to take Ethereum to a system called Proof of Stake, in which staked Ether tokens will order transactions, from its current system called Proof of Work, a mechanism which uses powerful computers to order transactions.
Soon, the current Ethereum Mainnet will merge with the Beacon Chain proof-of-stake system. This will mark the end of proof-of-work for Ethereum, and the full transition to proof-of-stake. This sets the stage for future scaling upgrades including sharding. The Merge will reduce Ethereum’s energy consumption by around 99.95%, it claims in its website.
The offshoot’s outperformance first came after Ethereum blockchain’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin mentioned it at the annual Ethereum Community Conference, or EthCC, in Paris on July 21.
Ethereum Classic is nearly 42% in the last seven days, placed as number 20 largest cryptocurrency in terms of market value. ETC is the native cryptocurrency of Ethereum Classic, a blockchain project that was created in 2016 when Ethereum’s blockchain split into two separate chains following a disagreement among members of its community, as per CoinDesk.
Buterin revealed that the Ether network will be 55% complete once they finish the upgradation of Merge. Earlier this month, Ethereum Foundation member Tim Beiko suggested September 19 as the provisional launch date for the Merge.
Ethereum Classic, which still uses the Proof-of-Work mechanism, may be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Ethereum’s migration, which is expected to cut off earnings for as many as one million people. Miners who are looking for a platform for their costly mining equipment may turn to Ethereum Classic.
The original Ethereum was pushed further into the limelight after AntPool, the mining pool affiliated with mining giant Bitmain Technologies Ltd, said it has invested $10 million to support it, reported Bloomberg.
(With inputs from Bloomberg)
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