ETC, the native currency of the ethereum classic blockchain, looks set to retest record highs, having now formed a base above $30.

As of writing, ETC is changing hands at $37.90, as per data source OnChainFX. Yet, the crypto asset has appreciated 16 percent in the last 24 hours, and is up 95 percent from its Feb. 6 low. Further, ETC was restricted to a narrow range of $30-$35 in the last few days and the sharp rise seen Monday marks an upside break of the consolidation.

As for the cause, one theory is that traders are exiting bitcoin for the alternative crypto asset.

OKEx, which offers ETC/BTC pair, is the leading exchange by trading volume, meaning it’s possible investors are taking this strategy – the sharp rise in ETC/BTC (up 10.52 percent) is mainly responsible for the uptick in ETC’s US dollar exchange rate.

That said, ETC is still down at least 20 percent from the record high of $47.77 hit on Dec. 21.

However, technical charts indicate the gap between the current market price and record highs could continue to narrow in the days ahead.

ETC Daily chart

The above chart (prices as per Bitfinex) shows:

Previous day’s long-tailed doji and a bullish follow-through Monday signal a continuation of the rally from the Feb. 6 low of $14.00.

The upward sloping 5-day moving average (MA), 10-day MA and the bullish crossover between 10-day MA and 50-day MA favors further upside in ETC.

The relative strength index (RSI) is trending higher in support of the bulls.

The RSI on the 4-hour chart is above 50.00 (bullish territory) and well short of the overbought territory, suggesting room for a further rally in ETC.

View

ETC looks set to test all-time highs near $47, but may consolidate around $43.00 (Dec. 21 high) for a couple of days as the 4-hour RSI may show overbought conditions by then.

Technical corrections are likely to be short-lived as long as the 10-day MA is sloping upwards.

Only a daily close (as per UTC) below $26.25 (Feb. 9 high) would signal bullish invalidation.

ETC/BTC

The pair looks set to test BTC 0.0043 (38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement) and could break higher towards BTC 0.0049 (Sep. 2 high), courtesy of the rounding bottom formation.

A daily close (as per UTC) below BTC 0.0023 (Feb. 6 low) would signal a bullish-to-bearish trend change.

Climbing via Shutterstock