Ethereum Classic, a non-forked version of Ethereum, is enjoying a hefty rally early Wednesday morning.
Following the infamous DAO hack of 2016, Ethereum split into two blockchains: Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, and Ethereum Classic. The newly created chain is the currently used Ethereum network, and the hacked chain continues to operate as Ethereum Classic.
Importantly, the latter will not be merging to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism in September.
And, as a shift to PoS would effectively make Ethereum miners obsolete, all eyes are now on Ethereum Classic (which will continue to operate using more traditional mining mechanisms).
Antpool, for example, recently announced a $10 million investment to back quality projects built on Ethereum Classic (ETC). Backed by mining hardware manufacturer Bitmain, Antpool is the third-largest Bitcoin mining pool and 14th-largest Ethereum mining pool, according to data from btc.com.
At Bitmain’s World Digital Mining Summit yesterday, Antpool’s CEO Leon Lv announced their support for ETC, as it continues to operate as a proof-of-work (PoW) network.
“Let’s support the ETC ecosystem and incubate high-quality PoW projects together!” tweeted Antpool early Wednesday morning.
Ethereum Classic moons
Since the announcement, ETC has completed a roughly 14% rally over the past 24 hours and changed hands at around $27 a token.
Despite today’s tremendous gains, ETC is still down 84.62% from its all-time high of $176.16 recorded in May 2021, according to CoinMarketCap.
It’s not just Bitmain that’s boosting the smaller of the two Ethereum projects, either.
On July 21, Vitalik Buterin, an Ethereum co-founder, also extended his support for the project, calling it a “totally fine chain” and “the original Ethereum.”
He added that “If you like proof of work, you should use Ethereum Classic.”
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