The future looks bright for Ethereum Classic (ETC), and for anyone who wants to get in, this probably is the time. Many times the ETC community has expressed concern about how sluggish the platform can sometimes be.

One perturbed member seemingly has had enough and recently quipped:

“ETC is sleeping for too much time. Let’s wake it up. Any hint how to do that…(?). Until recently, there appeared to be little that was being done to inject a boost in the coin’s value.

As things stand, however, it can be seen that the giant is finally about to wake and when it does; it will take some chasing to catch up with the run.

It’s been an exciting few days for ETC, even if that hasn’t really been reflected in the coin’s price movement. Regardless of the perceived setback, the future of the “original” Ethereum will soon be taking a turn for the better thanks to the efforts of its Ethereum Classic Labs; all the while building up to what could be a massive price rally.

All these, of course, come down to the fact that ETC needs to get a certain level of mainstream adoption, which then postulates sustained growth.

At the moment, ETC has some advantage over some of its immediate competitors. The crypto leads a host of others in the number of transactions per day. It may not be the top platform by a long shot, but beating the likes of Bitcoin Cash, Monero, Litecoin, and Zcash, ETC shows that there’s potential for more growth. And the next wave of growth will likely come from the recently launched Ethereum Classic Labs.

The unique role of the Ethereum Classic Labs

The Ethereum Classic Labs was launched recently and outrightly sets off to make ETC a platform worthy of its history and stature. At the very least, we expect to see an influx of projects coming onto the platform under the incubator’s programs. There’s also the view that the initiative will play a big role in accelerating general growth within the ETC ecosystem by initiating projects that bring more usability to the coin.

Other than just providing guidance and support to developers, it’s going to be crucial in ensuring the projects that come off the incubator are beneficial with real-life applicability. When all the hard work is put in, the very least you’d see is the popularity of the blockchain being enhanced, in tandem, helping to grow the value of the ETC coin.

In this function, the Ethereum Classic Labs will be targeting more apps like the ETCgame. This predictions market is built on the Ethereum Classic blockchain and provides predictions in sports, politics, finance, entertainment, and politics. The easier it is to have these on the blockchain, the more the native currency grows towards mainstream adoption and use.

Many industry opinion makers and experts have been quick to point out what this project means for the ETC platform.

Cardano and IOHK CEO Charles Hoskinson said:

“Ethereum Classic Labs is sure to attract talented blockchain developers which can only strengthen the ETC ecosystem”

Such optimism can only mean that the value of the coin will be picking up a sustained growth pattern as the platform becomes widely used by blockchain based start-ups. That potential is nicely summed up by ETCDEV CTO Igor Artamonov who said:

“Ethereum Classic Labs will be a catalyst to build infrastructure, encourage & help startups build truly decentralized applications on ETC blockchain”

Role of hard fork

While Ethereum Classic Labs takes up the challenge of becoming the catalyst for ETC growth, the future of the platform also depends on the versatility and stability it offers.

That aspect should be taken care of with the upcoming hard fork scheduled for May 24, 2018. According to the ETCDEV:

“the hard fork will diffuse the Ethereum difficulty bomb and add important stability improvements to the Ethereum protocol.”

The hard comes at a time when it’s felt that allowing the original difficulty bomb would make mining, one of ETC’s main attractions not only unprofitable but also become impossible to undertake. As the Ethereum Classic community prepares for the hard fork and the next one (Ethereum Emerald), one thing is very clear: ETC could be difficult to stop in coming months.

The price of Ethereum Classic (ETC) at the moment is showing some signs of recovery. The coin currently trades at $17.82 against the USD and has grown by +4% and 2% in the last 24h and 7-day periods respectively. Currently 17th, it could be a matter of days before the coin is looking down on top 10 places in terms of market cap.