Following the approval of the bitcoin spot ETF, ethereum Classic (ETC) has been rising as its price has skyrocketed over 35% in the past 24 hours.
ethereum Classic Takes Off Following bitcoin ETF Decision
The US SEC has finally approved all bitcoin spot ETFs and so far the event has not proven to be a news selling event as the market has reacted quite positively, with coins across the sector shooting.
One asset that immediately stood out even among these flying altcoins was ethereum Classic. ETC is a hard fork of ethereum and its main goal has been to preserve what the eth blockchain was originally like.
Unlike ethereum, which has transitioned to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, ethereum Classic still operates on proof-of-work (PoW). This latter mechanism, in which validators called miners handle the processing of the blockchain, is also used by networks such as bitcoin and Litecoin.
However, PoW has often been the main point of criticism against these cryptocurrencies, as mining involves the use of a large amount of computing power, which can have negative effects on the planet's environment. This is one of the reasons why eth shifted towards an environmentally friendly form in PoS.
The last time ETC saw a significant renewal of interest was in the run-up to ethereum's Merge, the event in which the blockchain mainnet made its switch to PoS.
However, ethereum Classic was unable to maintain its rally at that time, as the asset fell back to earth after the merger took place. It seems that investors have suddenly started paying attention to the coin once again, as its price has skyrocketed around 46% in the last day.
<img decoding="async" class="alignnone aligncenter" src="https://www.tradingview.com/x/VRdL0ohf/" alt="ethereum Classic Price Chart” width=”1534″ height=”868″/>
The asset's price appears to have exploded in the last 24 hours | Source: ETCUSD on TradingView
With these significant gains, ethereum Classic has become the top performer among at least the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization and has reached levels not seen since September 2022, the month of The Merge.
Now, the question on investors' minds must be: can ETC maintain this streak? Some underlying metrics may provide some clues, at least in the short term.
ethereum Classic Trading Volume Soared, Sentiment Remains Neutral
in a new mail On X, analytics firm Santiment shared some data on ethereum Classic following its strong rally. The first relevant indicator here is “trading volume,” which tracks the amount of the asset involved in trading on centralized exchanges.
As evident from the chart below, ETC volume has increased to quite high levels in the last day, a sign that investors are showing great interest in the cryptocurrency:
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone aligncenter" src="https://technicalterrence.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Ethereum-Classic-Soars-34-Can-This-Streak-Continue.jpeg" alt="ethereum Classic Volume” width=”2675″ height=”1784″/>
The trend in the trading volume and weighted sentiment of ETC | Source: Santiment
High volume may not necessarily imply the continuation of the uptrend on its own, as selling moves also contribute equally to the metric, but it is still generally a requirement for any rally to be sustainable.
The other metric that Santiment has attached to the chart is the ethereum Classic weighted sentiment, which basically tells us about the sentiment around the coin on social media platforms.
This metric is currently only at slightly positive levels, which may be a bullish sign as overly positive sentiment has historically resulted in highs.
Featured image from Shutterstock.com, Charts from TradingView.com, Santiment.net
