Ethereum Classic (ETC) is thriving during one of the toughest times in its entire history. This bear market has been hard on most blockchain projects but in our view, Ethereum Classic (ETC) tops the list. This is because the core development team that has been working on Ethereum Classic (ETC) all these years decided to leave because of funding problems that the prolonged bear market created. From the moment ETC Dev made their announcement of shutdown on Twitter, people have been spinning this in thousands of ways. Ethereum Classic (ETC) had no lack of critics but after this announcement, even those who were on the fence started criticizing it for being a complete failure. Interestingly, a lot of people expected ETC/USD to fall hard after that announcement but nothing of the sort happened.

One plausible explanation why the price did not crash hard after the ETC Dev shutdown was because most of the people that thought this was the end of Ethereum Classic (ETC) were not invested in the cryptocurrency in the first place! Ethereum Classic (ETC)’s community comprises of a small group of loyal supporters that truly believe in this project and closely follow all technical developments. Unlike Ripple (XRP) or Ethereum (ETH) supporters, they are not moved by what the retail trader or investor thinks because they know exactly what is happening on the inside. Those that have been following Ethereum Classic (ETC) for a long time would have already seen the ETC Dev shutdown coming and it would have reflected in the price of ETC/USD had they not been aware of what was going to follow next.

Before the ETC Dev Shutdown, there was a power game at play that was easy to spot even for outsiders because it was all over the news. Igor Artamonov of ETC Dev and members of other teams working on Ethereum Classic (ETC) were publically issuing statements against one another. It was clear that there was a strong pressure to push ETC Dev out. Apparently the reasons behind that move as can be interpreted from statements issued by the HCM-Foxconn backed Digital Finance Group were the lack of progress made on the blockchain despite growing interest in Ethereum Classic (ETC). Soon after the successful coup, they brought in Ethereum Classic Labs which is now running a very ambitious program of getting new Dapps on the Ethereum Classic (ETC) blockchain.

Ethereum Classic (ETC) has long lagged behind Ethereum (ETH) and has been the target of various attempts to malign its public image. Some recent reports indicate that members of the Ethereum (ETH) community might be behind the 51% attack on Ethereum Classic (ETC) but no proof has been made public so far. That being said, they did have much to gain from it. In the past, attempts were made to suppress the price of Ethereum Classic (ETC) on exchanges. However, Ethereum Classic (ETC) investors have come a long way from there. Just as Ripple (XRP) faced strong opposition during the early days but progressed in the years ahead, Ethereum Classic (ETC) is expected to meet a similar fate.

The weekly chart for ETC/ETH shows that Ethereum Classic (ETC) is already in an uptrend against Ethereum (ETH). It can be expected to continue to rally aggressively against Ethereum (ETH) in the years ahead. While Ethereum (ETH) seems to have slowed down after periods of aggressive growth, Ethereum Classic (ETC) is just getting started and has a long way to go which is why it is expected to rally quite aggressively against both Ethereum (ETH) and the US Dollar (USD) during the next bullish cycle.