Ethereum Classic Price Analysis: ETC/USD resumes the upside after hash rate increase.

• Ethereum Classic network has registered another hash rate increase towards the record high.
• ETC/USD is poised for further upside after a short-term technical correction.

Ethereum Classic (ETC) has gained nearly 6% in recent 24 hours to trade at $12.08. The coin hit the recent high at $12.86 on January 29 and has been range-bound with bearish bias ever since. However, now that the price broke above $12.00, the upside momentum may gain traction again. ETC is the 11th largest digital asset with the current market value of $1.4 billion. The coin has gained nearly 190% since the beginning of the year.

Ethereum Classic network hash rate has settled close to an all-time high

The hash rate hit the record high at 20.36 on January 29. By the time of writing, the metric has retreated to 18.65, though it is still elevated as compared to the levels around 11.21 registered at the beginning of the year. The higher the hash rate, the more resistant to 51% attack the network is.

While the growing ETC hash rate may be regarded as a positive development, it is still rather low when compared with other major digital assets. To put things in perspective, Bitcoin's hash rate also peaked on January 29 at 123.00. THE has a hash rate of 157.00, LTC's is 148.5, according to the data provided by Coinmetrics.

ETC/USD: technical picture

From the long-term point of view, a sustainable move above SMA100 weekly (currently at $8.85) implies that the coin is well-positioned for further recovery. Last time ETC/USD traded above this technical level in September 2018. However, the RSI both on weekly and on daily charts stays on the overbought territory, which implies that the coin may retreat to the support area before the upside trend is resumed. 

The initial support is located in approach to $11.00. the coin has tested this area on three occasions during the previous week, but each time reversed to the upside. Once it is cleared, the sell-off is likely to gain traction with the next focus on psychological $10.00 followed by the above-mentioned SMA100 weekly at $8.85.

On the upside, we will need to see a sustainable move above the recent high of $12.86 and $13.00 for the upside to gain traction. Once this barrier out of the way, we may see further increase towards $14.00 and $14.80 - consolidation top registered in August 2018.

ETC/USD daily chart

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