key takeaways
- The Bitcoin and Ethereum forks that first gained traction around crypto’s 2017 market cycle are among the best performing cryptocurrencies in today’s market rally.
- Ethereum Classic, the original Ethereum chain that forked in 2016, is up 25.6%.
- Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV have also outperformed their larger counterparts.
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The entire cryptocurrency market boomed on Thursday, with the overall crypto market rising by 7.1% on the day. The old barbed coins of industry leaders are going ahead.
Bitcoin and Ethereum Forks Lead Rally
Despite a sharp rise in interest rates and ongoing fears of the US entering a recession, the cryptocurrency market is rallying today.
The global cryptocurrency market capitalization is up 7.1% today, with Bitcoin and Ethereum among the top performers. Ethereum Classic, the original Ethereum chain that resulted from The DAO hack in 2016, has outperformed Ethereum in the rally. According to data from CoinGecko, Ethereum Classic’s ETC is trading at $33.46 after gaining 22.9% on the day, while Ethereum is up 11.2%.
One reason for Ethereum Classic’s surge could be Ethereum’s upcoming transition to proof-of-stake, otherwise known as a “merge”. The long-awaited update is scheduled to go live in mid-September, and Ethereum’s mining difficulty is increasing as the date approaches. This makes it less profitable for miners to maintain the network. The merge would also make mining hardware redundant as Ethereum would rely on validators rather than miners to verify transactions. As a result, Ethereum miners have gradually transitioned to Ethereum Classic mining, creating a perceived demand for its ETC coin. “Native Ethereum” also gained traction after Antpool, one of crypto’s largest mining pools, on Wednesday announced a $10 million investment to support its ecosystem.
Several 2017-era bitcoin forks that rose to prominence during the crypto’s 2017 market rally have seen price action similar to those of Ethereum Classic. Bitcoin Gold’s BTG crosses $26.78 after gaining 22% today, Bitcoin Cash’s BCH after a 22.3% gain to $144.10, and Bitcoin SV’s BSV at $61.41 after a 13.3% gain has reached. Bitcoin, which has a larger market capitalization than all of its forks, is up 8% over the same time frame. While no obvious fundamental catalyst fueled the rally, the growing interest of miners in older proof-of-work coins in the lead-up to the merge may have been a factor.
The cryptocurrency market has seen volatility in both directions over the past week, mainly because of the drought in liquidity and deteriorating macroeconomic conditions such as rapidly rising interest rates and the impact of declining economic growth on risk-averse asset and capital markets. Following today’s surge, the global crypto market capitalization stands at approximately $1.1 trillion, down about 65% from its November 2021 peak.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this article owns ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.
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