CryptoEQ reviews hundreds of different factors/metrics/parameters across ten Core Categories for evaluating value, potential, and risk for crypto-assets by a human-led team. While simply using data scraping to aggregate on-chain/Github/node count/social media data is quick and helpful, it is but only a small fraction of the total picture. This algorithmic-approach (the popular approach by many of the leading crypto “research firms”) is inadequate, lacking the necessary depth, context, and nuance needed to appropriately evaluate a crypto project. Most things in life are rarely so black and white and the wild, new world of crypto assets is no exception.
We are dedicated towards providing accurate cryptocurrency ratings based on risk and quality in order to help investors and institutions to reduce liabilities and make more intelligent financial decisions.
This approach means having to constantly reevaluate blockchains over time as they build, grow, evolve, fork, fizzle out, etc. as new data becomes available. With this mindset and against the backdrop of our original CORE Categories, we are happy to announce a new CORE Rating for Ethereum Classic!
The Fundamentals Team at CryptoEQ recently reevaluated Ethereum Classic (ETC) and have determined that over the past several months, the risks involved with holding and transacting in ETC are no longer tenable or justifiable and thus has been downgraded to our lowest ranking of Deficient.
Some high-level bullet points that went into our decision include:
- ETC has suffered at least four successful 51% attacks, deteriorating trust in the network, making transacting with ETC no longer practical, and eroding the user experience. Some exchanges have delisted the asset, confirmation times skyrocketed, and there remains no current solution from stopping future attacks.
- The ETC hashrate remains insignificant when compared to ETH (7 T hash vs 330 T hash), making it an insecure alternative to ETH.
- The cost to execute a 51% attack on ETH is ~$430,000/hour. The price to 51% attack ETC is negligible at < $5,000/hr, making the ETH chain roughly 100x more secure than ETC.
- Lagging network effects compared to ETH and other smart contract blockchains
- Near-zero dApp development, adoption, or usage: According to DappDirect, there are only ~10 dApps that have had any users within the last 3 days and only one with > 100 users total. In contrast, Ethereum has nearly 3000 dApps, many with tens of thousands of users and billions in value locked up. Below is the top 5 ETC dApps listed by Dapp Direct.
- ETC is no longer a viable alternative should Ethereum fail. Competition for the scalable and interoperable dApp platform is heating up with much-hyped platforms Cosmos and Polkadot recently launching as well as other well-funded, big name projects like Cardano, Dfinity, Tezos, NEAR, Solana, and others.
