Classic Ethereum (ETC) outperformed the native Ether token of its big rival Ethereum (ETH) during the current crypto market rebound with ETC/ETH pairs at 10-month highs.
Why does ETC beat ETH?
ETC’s price rose to $27 on July 22, a 100% gain in nine days after hitting a low of $13.35. Comparatively, the price of ETH saw a 64% surge in US dollars.
Ethereum’s rebound was among the largest among major cryptocurrencies, primarily due to the euphoria surrounding its potential network upgrade in September.
Nicknamed “fusion”, the long-awaited technical update will move Ethereum from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS).
Anyone who believes the #Ethereum #Merge is at the cost of smoking crack.
Nothing is charged in crypto, especially an event as complicated and unprecedented as this.
But if I was a gambler, I’d say $ETH go up before the fusion, fall on the fusion (unlocked parts), then go
— Jeremy Gardner (@Disruptepreneur) July 21, 2022
In addition, it will replace miners with stakers. As a result, the PoS switch could force existing Ethereum miners to switch to PoW chains.
Unsurprisingly, Ethereum Classic is closest to Ethereum in terms of network design and compatibility because Ethereum Classic is the legacy chain separated from Ethereum following a controversial hard fork in July 2016.
Speculators therefore expect Ethereum Classic to become the first choice for miners migrating from Ethereum, and this is probably one of the main reasons for the recent spike in ETC prices.
#ETC is not just pumping. He has a FIXED monetary policy! It’s programmable! Yes all Dapps enabled #ETH can work on $ETC. After the #ETH Fusion 2.0, miners like me will call #EthereumClassic residence. Retweet for CodeIsLaw! pic.twitter.com/sABGc72NUk
— Patient Money (@MoonTigerSt) July 19, 2022
ETC technical prices are bearish in the short term
From a technical perspective, Ethereum Classic has been under pressure from its 200-day exponential moving average (200-day EMA; the blue wave in the chart below) near $27.35.
ETC/USD saw a strong bearish rejection near wave resistance on July 19, confirmed by the biggest spike in its daily trading volume in nearly a year. Additionally, the rejection came after testing the 0.382 Fib line at around $27.47 as resistance.
Related: All ‘Ethereum killers’ will fail: Blockdaemon’s Freddy Zwanzger
ETC is now consolidating inside the $22-$25 price range, with its tentative bias tilted lower due to an “overbought” relative strength index (ROI).
ETC is eyeing a drop towards its 50-day EMA (the red wave) near $19 if it breaks permanently below $22, more than 25% below the July 22 price.
Conversely, a successful break above $25 and the 200-day EMA could push ETC prices higher above $30.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.