Ethereum Classic (ETC) in retreat as the team prepares for Agarata.

Ethereum Classic, now the 25th largest digital asset with the current market value of $436 million and an average daily trading volume of $769 million, has recovered from the recent low of $3.55 to trade at $3.75 at the time of writing. Despite the recovery, the coin is still moving inside the range with a bearish bias. 

Agarata update is coming

The Ethereum Classic team is set to activate the  Agharta hard fork in January 2020. To finalize the process and check with the representatives of the four clients for ETC. 

Currently, the  Agharta hard fork is set to activate in mid-January 2020. The goal of this call is to reach a consensus on moving ECIP-1056 to the "Accepted" stage and to agree on a mainnet activation block number.

As we have previously reported, Agarata will be focused on compatibility with Ethereum blockchain. Also, the update will contain a series of critical network improvements terms of reliability and stability.

ETC/USD, the technical picture

ETC/USD has created the third red daily candle in a row, which bodes ill for the immediate price forecasts. The initial support is created by the lower line of the daily Bollinger Band at $3.67. Once it is out of the way, the downside is likely to gain traction with the next focus of the recent low of $3.55 (November 25), which is also the lowest level since December 2018. If it gives away, ETC may crash as low as $3.00 amid vanishing liquidity ahead of Christmas and New Year holiday.

On the upside, we will need to see a sustainable move $4.00 (the upper line of the daily Bollinger Band) to mitigate the initial pressure and allow for an extended recovery towards $4.40 ( SMA50 (Simple Moving Average) daily) and $4.85 (SMA100 daily). Once these barriers are out of the way, psychological $5.00 will come into focus. This resistance may limit the upside and trigger the downside correction.

ETC/USD, daily chart