YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Ethereum Classic (ETC) continues to rally amidst the prolonged crypto winter. The token has soared 90% since the beginning of July, doubling its price along the way.
The monthly rally comes shortly after AntPool, an affiliate of mining rig giant Bitmain, announced a $10 million investment to support the Ethereum Classic ecosystem.
The mining pool also informed of plans to continue investing more in the future to support the ETC ecosystem.
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Miners worried about Ethereum Merge
Ethereum Classic (ETC) was formed after a major hack in 2016 ($50 million) resulted in a hard fork of the Ethereum (ETH) chain. Since then, ETH (the forked chain) has grown to become the second largest crypto, with a market cap of over $182 billion.
Meanwhile, ETC (the original Ethereum network), currently holds the 22nd spot, having a market cap of over $3.6 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Unlike the new network, ETC will continue to use the Proof of Work (PoW) system. However, ETH has been working on a major shift to a Proof of Stake (PoS) mechanism for a long time.
If things go according to plan, the long-awaited Ethereum Merge event will take place in September 2022.
A shift to PoS will make Ethereum (ETH) miners obsolete. As a result, many miners and holders could shift to ETC as a replacement.
This will also substantially increase the safety of the Ethereum Classic network.
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Vitalik Buterin praises Ethereum Classic, ETC soars
At the recent Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC), Ethereum (ETH) Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin expressed support for Ethereum Classic.
Clarifying that he won’t be canceling the transition to Proof of Stake, he pointed out that PoW fans can shift to the original chain.
“There are plenty of blockchains, like there is the Ethereum Classic, which is the original Ethereum…they are a very welcoming community… If you like proof of work, you can go and use Ethereum Classic. It is a totally fine chain,”
Buterin said. 
Continuing its July rally, Ethereum Classic jumped 18% today to reach an intra-day high of $28.80, according to CoinMarketCap.
At the time of writing, the token exchanged hands at $27.90 against the dollar.
On July 26, ETC opened the day at just $23.39, indicating it continues to get the support of the community.
