Ethereum

After Ethereum’s Hardened Merge Timeline

, Ethereum Classic’s Hashrate Hits Another All-Time Record

On Thursday, following the official proof-of-stake (PoS) transition announcement from the Ethereum Foundation, Ethereum Classic’s hashrate tapped another all-time high at block height 15,806,925. The latest jump to 38. 64 terahash marks the network’s second record high in five days, as Ethereum Classic captured 38. 37 terahash per second (TH/s) on August 20, 2022.

Ethereum Classic Hashrate Spikes Following the Latest Merge Announcement

The Ethereum Foundation recently published a blog post called the “Mainnet Merge Announcement,” which gives the public more precise dates concerning The Merge upgrade. At the time of writing, The Merge is expected to go live on Sept 10-20, 2022, and when that happens, Ethash proof-of-work (PoW) miners will be forced to mine another Ethash-supporting crypto network.

Ethash miners have a few coins they can choose from, like ravencoin (RVN), ergo (ERGO), beam (BEAM), and ethereum classic (ETC). Five days ago, Bitcoin.com News reported on ETC‘s hashrate tapping an all-time high at 38. 37 TH/s at block height 15,776,674. On August 25, 2022, ETC surpassed that record as the network’s hashrate reached 38. 64 TH/s at block height 15,806,925.

Ethereum Classic's Hashrate Taps Another All-Time High Following Ethereum's Hardened Merge Timeline

There’s a great possibility ETC could surpass that record again in the near future because the network jumped over the August 20 record on August 24 at block height 15,801,069 when it reached 38. 40 TH/s. Moreover, there’s still 975. 15 TH/s of hashpower pointed at the Ethereum (ETH) network today. While there are a few different Ethash supporting coins, so far, Ethereum Classic has been the main beneficiary of The Merge.

Ethereum Classic’s 30-Day Gains Outshine Ether’s Price Rise Last Month

Ethereum classic (ETC), the network’s native token, has also managed to climb from the 20th largest market valuation to the 19th, as ETC prices jumped 10.2% higher in the last 24 hours. ETC jumped from $34. 57 per unit during the early morning trading sessions on Thursday (EST), to the day’s price high at $38. 09 per unit.

Ethereum Classic's Hashrate Taps Another All-Time High Following Ethereum's Hardened Merge Timeline

ETC has managed to climb 61.2% higher against the U.S. dollar during the last 30 days. In fact, ETC‘s price rise over the past month is higher than ethereum’s (ETH) 18.4% rise in the same time period.

This story contains tags

beam (BEAM), ergo (ERGO), ETC, ETC chain, ETH, Ethash, Ethash coins, ether, Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic, ethereum classic (ETC), Ethereum Classic’s hashrate, merge, PoS, PoW, ravencoin (RVN), The DAO fork, The Merge, transition

What do you think about Ethereum Classic’s recent hashrate spike? Comment below to let us know your thoughts on this topic.

Jamie Redman

Jamie Redman, the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News, is a Florida-based financial journalist. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. Redman is passionate about Bitcoin, open-source codes, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 5,700 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. This article is not intended to be a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any products or services. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. The author and the company are not responsible for any loss or damage resulting from or related to the use or reliance of any content, goods, or services in this article.

Ethereum

Ethereum Derivatives Traders Position for $4K Rebound, Data Shows

Ethereum ( ETH) derivatives traders are back in full swing, with open interest, volume, and options activity all flashing signs of renewed energy across futures and options markets. ETH Max Pain Sits Near $3,300 as Traders Eye Key Expiry Levels At 10 a.m. Eastern time on Nov…
Read More

Ethereum

ETH2 Beacon Deposit Contract Now Controls 60% Of All Ethereum: Arkham

Rain Lohmus bought $75,000 worth of ETH in 2014, which is now worth $871 million. Yet, he cannot move even a single coin.

New on-chain research from Arkham Intelligence this week shows that the wallet address holding the most ETH today is not an individual, not an exchange, not an ETF issuer, but the staking contract that secures Ethereum.

According to Arkham, the ETH2 Beacon Deposit Contract currently holds more than 72.4 million ETH, worth around $252 billion at current market prices, and represents approximately 60% of the total supply.

Ethereum’s Power Center

In terms of individuals, the research firm confirmed that the largest known individual holder of ETH is still Rain Lohmus, the founder of Estonian bank LHV, who bought 250,000 ETH in the 2014 presale for around $75,000. Those coins would now be worth roughly $871 million, but Lohmus does not have access to them because he lost the private keys years ago.

The second largest identifiable individual holder is Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who currently holds around 240,000 ETH, worth around $840 million.

Beyond individual wallets, centralized exchanges and institutional entities collectively control some of the largest pools of Ether. Binance, for one, holds approximately 4.09 million ETH, while asset manager BlackRock holds around 3.94 million ETH, largely associated with its iShares Ethereum Trust ETF. Coinbase is the next largest institutional holder, with approximately 3.5 million ETH across multiple addresses, including cold wallets and staking reserves for its cbETH staking token.

Following suit are Upbit, Robinhood, Kraken, OKX, and Bitfinex, which appear among the top institutional holders.

Seized Funds, Stolen Funds, and Layer-2 Bridges

Arkham found that governments also appear on the leaderboard. For instance, the United States government controls around 60,000 ETH, which largely consists of seized criminal funds, including from the Potapenko/Turogin case and from seizures related to the Bitfinex hacker.

Ethereum

Ethereum Traders Just Flipped Bullish, But History Says This Is a Major Red Flag

Ethereum’s bounce toward $3,500 triggered instant FOMO, but Santiment says extreme optimism usually means price is about to disappoint.

Ethereum traders have swung sharply from extreme bearishness to extreme bullishness within just a few days, based on social media sentiment.

But fresh data suggest that when ETH nearly rebounded to $3,500 on Thursday, the crowd interpreted the move as a confirmation that the asset was “back in business.”

ETH Trader FOMO

Santiment warned that this sudden pivot is similar to the same pattern seen earlier in the week, when retail panic selling actually contributed to the rebound. Now, the rapid return of FOMO could similarly stall further upside.

According to the analytics platform, prices have shown a tendency to move in the opposite direction of the crowd, and that more neutral sentiment phases have proven to be stronger buy signal environments than euphoric ones.

Crypto trader Ted Pillows also noted that even though the altcoin is showing some rebound after this week’s sharp decline, the recovery lacks conviction. According to Pillows, the current move higher, though modest, is being driven largely by short positions being closed rather than new spot buyers stepping in. He added that Ethereum needs to reclaim the $3,600-$3,700 price range with meaningful inflows to establish strength and dismiss the risk of further downside. Without that confirmation, Pillows believes the odds still favor lower prices from here.

Despite the near-term uncertainty, some traders say the bigger picture is still pointing toward a substantial upside scenario. For instance, crypto trader “Trader Tradigrade” said that ETH’s monthly chart is currently developing what he describes as a massive Inverse Head and Shoulders pattern, with a potential price target of $14,000 once confirmed.

“Wet Blanket” Phase

As the crypto market remains sluggish, Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz believes that this could be due to long-term holders rebalancing their net worths and diversifying away from massive concentrated holdings after a very long bull market. Novogratz deems this to be a healthy sign in the medium and long term as these positions get distributed. In the short run, however, he said that “it’s a proverbial wet blanket” and has weighed on prices.

About the author

Chayanika has been working as a financial journalist for six years. A graduate in Political Science and Journalism, her interest lies in regulatory implications with a focus on technological evolution in the crypto realm.