![\"Ethereum](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/ggffddsssss.jpg\")
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Roughly six years ago in July 2016, an Ethereum hard fork was used to address the infamous DAO hack. This specific fork saw the chain split into two factions, and a new crypto asset called ethereum classic was introduced to the crypto community. For years now both chains have co-existed using the same proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm, and with The Merge coming up, speculators assume Ethash PoW miners will transition to ethereum classic mining. During the last two weeks, ethereum classic has climbed more than 124% against the U.S. dollar, and the network\u2019s hashrate has spiked a great deal as well.<\/strong><\/p>\n Ethereum classic (ETC)<\/a> is six years old<\/a> this month and it\u2019s seen some significant gains during the last 14 days. In fact, ever since the penciled-in date<\/a> for The Merge was revealed, ETC<\/a> has risen in value alongside its counterpart ethereum (ETH)<\/a>.<\/p>\n While ETH<\/a> has seen a significant double-digit \u200b\u200b45.7% gain in two weeks, ETC<\/a> has jumped 124.2% in that same period of time. Despite the 124% rise, year-to-date, ETC<\/a> is still down 34% and around 80% lower than the crypto asset\u2019s all-time high at $167 per unit.<\/p>\n ETC<\/a> shares the same consensus algorithm as ETH<\/a> and it seems PoW miners that used to miner ether, are starting to transition and are now mining on the ETC<\/a> chain. In mid-July, when the preliminary Merge date was penciled-in, ETC<\/a>\u2019s hashrate was 17.39 terahash per second (TH\/s) and today, it\u2019s 20% higher at 20.88 TH\/s.<\/p>\n ETC<\/a> hit a high this week at 21.41 TH\/s and the network is also nearing the all-time high it tapped last year. ETC<\/a>\u2019s all-time hashrate high was 28.53 TH\/s<\/a> on May 7, 2021, at block height 12,695,074. At the pace the Ethereum Classic hashrate has been going, it\u2019s quite possible the hashrate could surpass its all-time high in the near future.<\/p>\n ETC<\/a>\u2019s average fees are much cheaper than ETH<\/a>\u2019s average fees, as the average ETH<\/a> fee today is 0.002 ETH<\/a> or $3.31, while the average ETC<\/a> fee is 0.000096 ETC<\/a> or $0.0031<\/a> per transfer. Tether (USDT<\/a>) is ETC<\/a>\u2019s largest trading pair, as the stablecoin captures 59.17% of all trades today. Following USDT<\/a> is the Korean won with 20.82% of all ETC<\/a> trades, and the U.S. dollar is ETC<\/a>\u2019s third-largest trading pair as it commands 7.84%.<\/p>\n 11.53%<\/a> of the volume on the South Korean exchange Bithumb stems from ETC<\/a> swaps and 22.96%<\/a> of Upbit\u2019s volume derives from ETC<\/a> trades against the Korean won (KRW) as well. In terms of decentralized finance (defi), the Ethereum Classic network is way behind the eightball when it comes to defi development.<\/p>\n Ethereum (ETH<\/a>) has the largest value locked out of all the blockchains today with $56.62 billion<\/a> total value locked (TVL). That\u2019s more than 65% of the $87.56 billion locked across the myriad of blockchains that support defi protocols. Meanwhile, Ethereum Classic\u2019s has a very small TVL, with only $175,483 on July 27, according to defillama.com statistics<\/a>.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a total of three ETC<\/a> defi applications compared to Ethereum\u2019s 523 protocols. Over 92% of the value locked in ETC<\/a> defi applications is held on the Hebeswap, an automated token exchange. The rest of ETC<\/a>\u2019s defi TVL or a mere $12,366 is held on Etcswap and Swap Cat.<\/p>\n If miners continue to find value in ETC<\/a>\u2019s PoW security, it is possible that ETC-based defi protocols and smart contract applications could see more development. ETC<\/a> also has a supply cap set at 210,700,000 while Ethereum\u2019s supply is infinite. Today, 136,026,596 ETC<\/a> is currently in circulation which means there\u2019s only 74,673,404 ETC<\/a> left to mine.<\/p>\n Ethereum (ETH<\/a>) network and community is much larger than Ethereum Classic (ETC<\/a>) ecosystem in a variety of ways, and in terms of market capitalization, ETH<\/a> is a behemoth in comparison to ETC<\/a>. ETH<\/a>, the second-largest crypto asset by market cap represents 17.7% of the $1 trillion crypto economy with $193.36 billion. ETC<\/a>, on the other hand, represents 0.402% of the crypto economy\u2019s value with $4.39 billion today.<\/p>\nEthereum Classic Catches Triple-Digit Gains During the Last Two Weeks<\/h2>\n
Korean Won Represents More Than 20% of Ethereum Classic Trades<\/h2>\n