Ethereum Classic vs. USD – Cryptocurrencies

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The Ethereum cryptocurrency is the second most recognized digital currency of the world and quite popular after the Bitcoin. On July 20, 2016, the Ethereum network went through a split called a hard fork that led to two divisions. The original Ethereum blockchain operated through smart contracts that allowed autonomous execution and made Ethereum fungible and immutable.

The older version was named Ethereum Classic (ETC) while the newer version adopted the original name of Ethereum (ETH). The ETC allowed users to not only send and receive coins but also allowed complex smart contracts to function autonomously and without any modification and restriction.

Both the ETH and ETC operate through a token called ‘Ether,’ which could easily be transferred between two individuals using a cryptocurrency wallet. The Ether token is also used to compensate the participating nodes for operating the Ethereum platform. Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to launch in 2009 and remains the best, based on market capitalization.

The Ethereum blockchain model was developed as a white paper similar to Bitcoin in 2013 by Vitalik Buterin, who was a Russian-Canadian programmer. The initial development of Ethereum was done by online crowd-sale, which happen between July and August of 2014. Ethereum officially went live on July 30, 2015. Ethereum Classic can be bought and traded on the exchanges that include Coinbase, Binance, and Bittrex.

Ethereum Classic is quite different from Ethereum when it comes to the mining process and coin supply. ETH is more commonly traded and has the second-highest market capitalization after Bitcoin, while ETC has a considerably small market capitalization. ETC works on the original Ethereum protocol and code.

Ethereum Classic works on a standard law or principle that states that ‘there should be no changes to the original Ethereum Classic code that could disturb the properties regarding fungibility, immutability, and scarcity of the ETC ledger, and the transaction history cannot be reversed or modified.’

What is the ETC/USD currency pair?

The Ethereum Classic (ETC) pairing with United States Dollar (USD) is given by ‘ETC/USD’ where ETC is the base currency, while USD is the counter or quote currency. The ETC/USD pairing indicates a combination of ETC, which is older version of Ethereum, and USD, which is one of the most important currency in the world after the United States Dollar (USD). One can easily trade ETC with USD on the Coinbase, which is the safest and most popular platform for cryptocurrency.

The ETC/USD indicates the relationship of Ethereum Classic with the US Dollar. The ETC/EUR pair shows how many US Dollars are needed to buy one Ethereum Classic. The current exchange rate is 1 ETC = $5.13.

History of ETC/USD Pair

Just after two years after Ethereum launch and initial success, the developers in the Ethereum community decided to form a venture capital fund or a decentralized investment for smart contract projects called ‘Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)’.

Nearly 14% or $150 million was raised in only 28 days. But unfortunately, a hack occurred, and an estimated $60 million was stolen from the DAO, and investors lost their money. The value of Ethereum declined from $20 to $13. The cause of the hack was reported to be no security breach but a technical malfunction. The Ethereum developers decided to make changes called ‘forks’ in the Ethereum blockchain code.

The fork or split led to two components; the original blockchain code was renamed as Ethereum Classic (ETC), where the nodes would work on a pre-fork version of Ethereum blockchain code. The newer version was named Ethereum (ETH) and consisted of nodes and computers in the blockchain, which would work on the upgraded network. The split occurred in June 2016 and was done to get back the $50 million investment hacked from DAO.

After the split on July 20, 2016, the original Ethereum blockchain was called the ‘Ethereum Classic’ while the new hard fork was named ‘Ethereum.’ The total market capitalization of ETC is over $600 million. The current ETC in circulation is 120 million coins, while 211 million ETC coins will be ever mined. The all-time high value of ETC was $44.34 on January 14, 2018, while the all-time low value was $0.615 on July 25, 2016.

United States Dollar, also famously known as US Dollar (USD), is the world’s most dominant currency and acclaimed as the global currency. USD is the top-ranked currency and part of nearly 90% of overall Forex transactions. USD is paired with all the world’s major and minor currencies, and nearly all the global commodities such as oil, gold, wheat, sugar, silver, coffee, and copper are valued in US dollars. Nearly all the established and new cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Dash, Bitcoin Gold, and Ethereum Classic are also paired with US Dollar.

How to analyze the ETC/USD Price Chart

If we study the price chart of the ETC/USD pair, we see that the pair started strongly, and value remained in the range of $10.00 to $12.00 from the second week of January 2020 to the last week of February 2020. The value of ETC/USD fell to $3.96 on March 12, 2020, and then steadily regained but with constant dips. In the last six months, the value of ETC/USD remained from $5.55 to $8.00 from the first week of May to the first week of September 2020. The highest value of ETC/USD was $7.81 on August 1, 2020. The ETC/USD pair again started to fall from the first week of September 2020, and the current lowest value was $5.07 on September 13, 2020.

Currently, ETC/USD pair trades on $5.13. The Bid price is 5.086, while the Ask price is 5.211.

If you speculate that the price of ETC will rise against the USD, then you will go long or Buy, and likewise, if you guess the price of ETC will fall against the USD, then you will go short or Sell.

What causes price change in the ETC/USD pair?

All the cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum Classic, have common issues that impact their price in exchange for both transaction and investment purposes. The most crucial aspect is the acceptance and legitimacy of digital currencies, as in many countries, there are stringent rules regarding the use of Ethereum, Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum Classic, and Bitcoin Gold.

The value of ETC is impacted by the value of other competing digital currencies, the noticeable changes in the blockchain network, mainstream acceptance, and price fluctuation in the Ethereum and Bitcoin that dominate the cryptocurrency market.

The US Dollar represents the economic performance and stability of the US. The value of the US Dollar has always remained stable as compared to other global currencies. The value of USD depends on the monetary policies and financial reports issued by the Federal Reserve, also called (Fed). The economic factors that affect the value of USD are interest rates, inflation, employment rate, economic growth forecasts, trade relations, and political situation both domestic and international.

The information above is for education purposes only and cannot be considered as investment advice. Past performance is not reliable indicator of future results.