Ethereum Classic price has not dropped below $7.00 but could if bears overpower bulls following reports of another 51% attack
The price of Ethereum Classic against the US dollar has remained above $7.10 — despite its blockchain suffering a potentially catastrophic attack.
ETC/USD bulls have managed to fend off bears, but could still struggle to hold support at the crucial $7.00 zone if selling pressure mounts and its recent downtrend extends over the next few sessions.
As of writing, the Ethereum Classic community is waking to the news of another damaging report that the blockchain has suffered a second 51% attack in a week.
On August 6, mining difficulty for Ethereum Classic increased by more than 52 % within hours, with exchanges among the first to acknowledge that there had been another 51% attack on the network.
Binance was among the first platforms to tweet, saying Ethereum Classic had a new blockchain reorganisation involving more than 4,000 blocks. This follows last week’s attack that saw a malicious entity steal over $5 million worth of the native token via a well-coordinated double-spend attack. Similarly to this case, the attacker(s) manipulated over 4,200 blocks.
Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, noted that Ethereum Classic could perhaps be better off switching to a proof-of-stake model. Ethereum itself is preparing to switch to PoS via its ETH 2.0 upgrade slated for later this summer.
ETH/USD technical perspective
Ethereum Classic has been range-bound under $7.50 for the last five days after recovering from a dip to $6.60 on August 2. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the cryptocurrency’s price is down by 1.57% over the past week.
Although there is a strong bear presence, as suggested by shrinking buy volumes, the technical outlook suggests sideways trading is the more likely scenario short term.
ETC/USD lost support at the 50-SMA at $7.298 and 20-SMA at $7.123 to the bears. However, bulls could still have a say given the slightly upturned RSI. The MACD is also forming a positive divergence on the 4-hour timeframe, despite the negativity generated by the security risks.
At the moment, bulls need to prevent a break below $7.00 — a crucial area that must be defended to prevent further decline.
A strong push from current levels could see bulls revisit major resistance at around $7.50 and then build on this to target $8.00. If price fails to hold above $7.00, a sharp decline could see bulls rely on support at the 100-SMA.
The post Ethereum Classic looks shaky after suffering another 51% attack appeared first on Coin Journal.
