Ethereum Classic Undergoes Fourth Halving

On May 31, at block height #20,000,001, the Ethereum Classic network experienced a halving. The reward for mining a block was reduced to 2.048 ETC.

This programmed event occurs approximately every two years, with the reward decreasing by 20% to achieve a total emission of 210.7 million ETC. Since 2017, this marks the fourth halving on the blockchain.

The coin’s price reacted minimally, declining by about 1% over the day. Over the week, prices fell by 6.4% due to a correction. The asset trades around $30, which is 82% below the peaks of May 2021 (CoinGecko).

The network’s hash rate is approximately 180 TH/s (2Miners). The figure reached a peak of 234.35 TH/s in September 2022 amid the migration of Ethereum miners. At that time, the blockchain of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization transitioned to the Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm following the major update known as The Merge.

The influx of computational power into Ethereum Classic was short-lived, but after a correction to around 110 TH/s, the hash rate showed a steady increase.

In September 2022, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson described Ethereum Classic as a “dead project” that failed to realize its potential. 

Several months later, he reiterated his criticism, noting that the blockchain “lacks a roadmap, innovation, team, or vision.”

Forbes classified Ethereum Classic among the useless cryptocurrencies, referring to them as “zombie networks.”