Ethereum Classic (ETC) Sees Massive Increase in Hashrate Ahead of Merge Event

Ethereum Classic (ETC) has experienced an 83% increase in hashrate since June, according to data shared by BitwiseInvest researcher Gayatri Dhumal.

At the same time, the hashrate of Ethereum (ETH) has dipped by 11% ahead of the upcoming Merge upgrade.

Ethereum Classic has been the number one beneficiary of the ongoing exodus of Ethereum miners.

In late July, the controversial hard fork received an endorsement from Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin. The Canadian programmer described it as a “fine” alternative for miners. The ETC token experienced a substantial rally after Antpool’s CEO Leon Lv announced a $10 million investment in the chain.

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At the same time, there are some efforts to launch new hard forks for miners. However, new proof-of-work tokens are highly unlikely to gain traction due to a lack of support from exchanges and major decentralized applications.

Earlier this month, the Ethereum co-founder said that “pretty much everyone” was supportive of Ethereum’s transition to proof of stake.

Ethereum’s major software upgrade is widely expected to occur in mid-September after years of delays. The Ethereum Classic fork is expected to win big from the upgrade.

The Ethereum network was forked into two separate chains back in 2016 following the infamous DAO attack, which remains one of the most significant hacking incidents in crypto history. Ethereum Classic was created by those members of the community who wanted to preserve the old hacked chain.

Back in August 2020, the Ethereum Classic chain was hit by several 51% attacks within the same week, which made many question its security.