ETC (Ethereum Classic), as a long-established asset in the cryptocurrency market, can be assessed for its future potential from four aspects: technology, ecosystem, market, and risks.
On the technical level, ETC is enhancing transaction efficiency through underlying algorithm optimization. The transaction confirmation time has been reduced to dozens of seconds, and transaction fees have decreased, supporting the demands of high-frequency scenarios such as DeFi and NFTs. At the same time, its compatibility with Ethereum is continuously improving. If seamless migration of smart contracts is achieved, it will attract developer resources and drive exponential growth of the ecosystem scale. Additionally, ETC is optimizing mining difficulty and node performance through upgrades like Thanos and Magneto, improving the network's resistance to attacks and gradually restoring investor confidence.
On the ecosystem level, ETC has already emerged in the DeFi sector, with a growing number of decentralized exchanges and lending platforms providing low-cost financial services, potentially attracting traditional financial users. Meanwhile, ETC's technical characteristics are suitable for the Internet of Things and supply chain fields. For example, the 'Blockchain + Chongming Rice' project covers multiple products and batches, while Shandong Wufu Agriculture achieves full-process data on-chain, providing replicable solutions for scenarios like automotive parts and cold chains.
On the market level, the digitalization of the global economy is accelerating, and the recognition of crypto assets is increasing. As a long-established project, ETC may benefit. Institutional investors are paying more attention to blockchain, with the holdings of ETC by institutions like Grayscale increasing to 12% of the total circulation. If institutions build large positions, the price may be driven up.
However, ETC also faces multiple risks. The overall volatility of the cryptocurrency market is high, and tightening policy regulation may trigger a sharp decline. Additionally, if Ethereum's upgrades solve the scalability issue, ETC's positioning as 'pure PoW' may lose its differentiated advantage. Furthermore, ETC needs to be vigilant about technical security risks, such as 51% attacks.
Overall, ETC has the potential for a phase of price increase, but a 'big surge' requires multiple favorable factors to resonate. Investors need to make decisions based on market dynamics and their own risk tolerance.