Ethereum Classic (ETC) Price Prediction 2025, 2026, 2030

Ethereum Classic (ETC +5.51%) has been an important cryptocurrency to watch, ever since it was first created in 2016. This OG blockchain has experienced extreme price volatility, especially since its 2021 bull run – leaving investors wondering where it could go next in 2026.

Will ETC rally to new all-time highs again, or do bullish signs just promote false hope? In this Ethereum Classic price prediction, we’ll cut through the noise and see how ETC could perform over the coming years.

Ethereum Classic Price Prediction 2025

Historically, the price of ETC has primarily benefited from Ethereum Classic’s association with the forked version of the Ethereum blockchain. For example, when Ethereum experienced widespread uncertainty following its transition to a Proof-of-Stake consensus model (a process called “The Merge”) in late 2022, Ethereum Classic saw huge spikes in its network hash rate and developer activity – and some short-lived ETC price increases.

Investor optimism had also been buoyed by ETC’s 2021 bull run performance, which saw the coin peak slightly below the $180 mark.

However, that period of positive sentiment has long passed – and in Q2 2025, Ethereum Classic’s developer activity has now fallen to almost zero, at least relative to its previous state in 2023. That activity (measured in GitHub repos) fell into a steep downtrend throughout 2024, and has not yet shown signs of potential recovery.

At the same time, Ethereum Classic’s network hash rate has hit new all-time highs this year, indicating that the ecosystem’s remaining builders at least have some powerful resources to draw from.

Meanwhile, the ETC price has stayed rangebound between $12 and $40 – even while Bitcoin, Ethereum, other altcoins, and meme coins have seen far more profitable price moves. This has naturally caused significant frustration among ETC holders, with boredom and bearish sentiment contributing to repeated selloffs that occur when ETC closes in on the $40 level.

Furthermore, although Ethereum Classic did see some hype during the leadup to the launch of Ethereum spot ETFs in 2024, that has also passed without pushing ETC to higher key support levels. Ethereum Classic’s potential as a permanently immutable haven for DeFi protocols has also been either overlooked or dismissed, as its total value locked (TVL) lies far below $1 million – while Ethereum has a total TVL hovering around $50 billion.

At the present time, we currently expect these limitations to restrict ETC’s price performance, and forecast the following values for the next six months:

Ethereum Classic Price Prediction 2026

As we saw in the previous section, the Ethereum Classic ecosystem has largely been stagnating after experiencing long-term developer activity downtrends and lackluster ETC price performance. It still has a core community who are highly devoted to its philosophy – but it seems that new project builders are simply choosing to use other chains. In an industry that’s focused on high-speed development (despite extremely high consequences for project failure), a chain that practically defines itself by its inflexibility does not seem to be a first choice for Web3 coders in 2025.

ETC has exceeded expectations before (such as during the 2021 bull run), and risen seemingly out of nowhere to generate massive gains for investors. Therefore, it’s possible that we could see a repeat performance at a random point in the future – and this may be a key reason why some ETC holders are still HODLing. Speculation also still remains about a potential ETC ETF, which would clearly be bullish if it actually became a reality.

Moving away from hypotheticals, it’s an unavoidable fact that the popularity of alternative chains and Layer 2 networks (from Ethereum to Solana, Base, Polygon, TRON, Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche, and Arbitrum) does not leave a lot of space for Ethereum Classic to flourish in. It’s also evident that Ethereum Classic’s unique selling points are simply not that appealing to modern Web3 developers – which makes the project a historically notable and respectable veteran of the Web3 space, but not much more than that.

Despite ETC’s considerable range of weaknesses, our ETC price prediction has allowed for some bullish outcomes, as this blockchain has previously proven that it should not be underestimated. Therefore, an average price target of $9.62 is a fair one for 2026.

Ethereum Classic Price Prediction 2030

By 2030, Ethereum Classic will definitely need to have recovered and established new (and higher) support levels for the ETC coin price. This will require tremendous effort on the part of its developer community, and a return to the chain’s initial mainstream status. At the present time, this does not seem that likely – but in 2021, ETC’s price surge was almost completely unexpected, and marked this crypto as one to always keep an eye on.

Moving into a totally new decade, cross-chain interoperability will be one key development point for long-term investors to monitor. As blockchain networks become more interconnected, ETC could find new use cases and partnerships – helping its ecosystem to start growing again. Of course, other blockchains will also gain the same benefits from interoperability, so competition will still be extremely fierce.

Macro events such as political developments (especially the conclusion of Donald Trump’s time as President of the United States in 2029), regulatory changes (such as those taking place at the SEC, now under the pro-crypto leadership of Paul Atkins), and central bank interest rate decisions will also influence the price of ETC to some degree. However, the state of the Ethereum Classic ecosystem and community will ultimately define (and limit) the extent of any bullish or bearish price movements.

Using our in-house market analysis models, our Ethereum Classic price prediction for 2030 currently forecasts a maximum price of $23.39. This is a strong option for ETC bulls – but buyers with more moderate expectations may prefer to aim for $12.67 or $17.42.

Potential Highs and Lows of Ethereum Classic

After assessing key project fundamentals and data-based trends, let’s summarize our Ethereum Classic price prediction. Here’s a quick look at the potential scenarios we see for ETC in the coming years:

Our Ethereum Classic Price Prediction Methodology

Due to the lack of meaningful developer and community activity on the Ethereum Classic blockchain in recent months, we’ve made this factor a key point of focus throughout this ETC price prediction. We’ve also used advanced data analysis and manual technical analysis to generate more precise price levels for traders and investors to watch, and allowed for the influence of key macro market events. The Ethereum Classic project’s historical legacy and occasionally outsized price performances were also considered, pushing our conclusion in a more bullish direction.

Ethereum Classic Price History

Ethereum Classic’s price has had its ups and downs. Created in the summer of 2016 after the Ethereum network’s hard fork, ETC began life as the underdog that represented the continuation of the original Ethereum blockchain.

Those early days were highly volatile as ETC bounced between $0.75 and $3.50, leaving traders unsure about its prospects – but that was just a warmup. When the 2017 bull run hit, ETC soared to a new all-time high of almost $50 per coin before settling around $28 by the end of the year.

Then came the bear market. Ethereum Classic was one of the worst-performing cryptos in 2018, ending the year under $5. The next couple of years were also a slog, with ETC mostly trading sideways in single-digit territory – but just when investors were ready to write it off, ETC staged a huge comeback. During the bull market of 2021, Ethereum Classic rose to an eye-watering peak of almost $180 on Binance.

Unsurprisingly, that high didn’t last – and 2022 gave investors a reality check, as ETC retreated throughout most of the year (with some short-lived spikes following the Ethereum blockchain’s “Merge” event, marking the network’s shift to a Proof-of-Stake consensus model). ETC rallied once more in 2023, before slowly drawing out a double-top pattern with peaks in March and December 2024.

Today, the current Ethereum Classic price is $8.97. Since mid-2022, ETC has been quite volatile – but its moves have been limited to a range between $12 and $40. Although this has allowed dip-buyers the chance to multiply their investments, it’s also proven extremely risky for ETC bulls to buy in after a new rally fully establishes itself.

What Do Other Analysts Predict for Ethereum Classic?

Here’s what some other respected analysts in the crypto space are forecasting for ETC:

• Changelly are slightly bullish, projecting that ETC could hit $21.94 by the end of 2025.
• 3Commas have adopted a cautious view, expecting ETC to remain around its current price of $8.97.
• Finally, Blox have published an even more conservative outlook for the long term. They predict that ETC could reach €37 (approximately $42) by the end of 2030, which is not significantly higher than other analysts’ expectations for the next several months.

What Is Ethereum Classic?

Ethereum Classic emerged from one of the most controversial events in blockchain history (popularly referred to as “the DAO hack”), which took place in 2016.

The DAO in question was one of the first decentralized autonomous organizations, and was designed to act as a blockchain-powered investment fund. However, the DAO’s coders had accidentally left that fund open to an exploit used by hackers to steal around 3.6 million ETH – which would’ve been worth around $60 million at the time.

The Ethereum community faced a tough choice: rewrite history to restore the stolen funds, or stick to its most fundamental guiding principles – including the blockchain’s immutability, and the philosophy that “code is law.” The vote-based decision to fork and roll back the blockchain (creating the chain that we call “Ethereum” today) created a contentious philosophical divide – and those who believed in immutability continued to maintain the original unforked version of the chain, which is now referred to as “Ethereum Classic.”

Since that time, Ethereum has evolved to focus more on scalability – and even adopted a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. Meanwhile, Ethereum Classic still uses its original Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism, while its supporters continue to champion immutability. Unlike the new Ethereum, which does not have a supply cap for ETH, Ethereum Classic has a fixed supply of ETC coins – mirroring Bitcoin’s scarcity model.

On the development front, Ethereum Classic still has a core community of contributors, ensuring the network continues to grow (albeit at a very limited pace). While it may not receive the same sort of attention as its more famous sibling, Ethereum Classic’s commitment to its core principles has helped it retain a dedicated following.

Is Ethereum Classic a Buy?

Ethereum Classic’s potential as an investment in 2025 is a divisive topic. On one hand, the project’s commitment to decentralization will appeal to many blockchain purists. ETC’s fixed supply could also drive scarcity over time, and the chain’s continued development also bodes fairly well for its longevity.

However, Ethereum Classic does face challenges, as it’s fallen far behind Ethereum in terms of adoption and developer activity. While the platform’s resistance to change is admirable, it has also hindered Ethereum Classic’s ability to compete with new blockchains that are more willing to adjust to evolving circumstances – and the requirements of developers and users.

That said, ETC has a lower market cap than ETH ($1.40B compared to Ethereum’s $250.97B) – and if Ethereum Classic can boost its ecosystem activity levels again, there’s clear room for significant price growth. If Ethereum faces issues in the future (as it did with the uncertainty surrounding The Merge), the potential for increased interest in Ethereum Classic as an alternative shouldn’t be overlooked.

Ethereum Classic Price Prediction – Conclusion

Throughout this ETC price prediction, we’ve repeatedly emphasized the need for Ethereum Classic to bounce back on multiple fronts. From developer activity to DeFi TVL and the overall price performance of ETC as a still-notable crypto investment option, this project has mostly stagnated over a period of years – and largely failed to inspire enough coders, users, and investors to drive sustained bullish price movements.

Nonetheless, it’s also possible to look back over ETC’s price chart and see that this project is capable of explosive gains – even when nobody really expects it. Taking a balanced approach, and focusing more on the long term, we consider average ETC prices of $9.62 in 2026 and $17.42 in 2030 to represent the best targets for potential investors right now.

If you’re curious about other coins that could give your portfolio a boost, check out our brand-new best crypto to buy guide, which is linked below. We’ve revealed an entire lineup of promising projects, from the latest meme coins to up-and-coming blockchains and more:

Best Cryptocurrencies in 2026

FAQs

How much will Ethereum Classic be worth in 2025?

Our analysis suggests that Ethereum Classic should move beyond $20 this year, with expected growth fairly limited beyond that level. This prediction takes into account current market trends and the lack of recent growth within the Ethereum Classic ecosystem.

What will the Ethereum Classic price be in 2030?

Our Ethereum Classic price prediction for 2030 points to a potential average value of $17.42 with a maximum price of $23.39. This would represent a 94.21% change from the current ETC price.

Is Ethereum Classic a good crypto to invest in?

Ethereum Classic’s appeal lies in its original Ethereum project roots and commitment to immutability. However, it also faces challenges in terms of adoption – so whether it’s a good coin to invest in will depend on your individual investment goals.

Can Ethereum Classic reach $100?

Our Ethereum Classic price forecast indicates that ETC could potentially reach or exceed $100 again, although this is more likely to occur closer to (or beyond) 2030 than in the near term.

References

• Ethereum Classic (ETC) Definition, History, and Future (Investopedia)
• ETHA – The Ethereum Trust ETF (iShares / BlackRock)
• Chairman: Paul S. Atkins (US Securities and Exchange Commission)
• What Was The DAO? (Gemini)