As I've commented elsewhere, I've always held the (uneducated) view that Poloniex effectively created ETC when they listed it. If there hadn't been a market for it, it seems likely that ETC would have just died since ETH was the clear community choice.

In light of this, it would be interesting to look back at trade history and estimate how much money Poloniex made off ETC. How big of a cash cow was it really? Was the supposed "community split" in the ETH/ETC communities simply manufactured out of the profit motives of one exchange?

Of course, the reality is almost certainly more complex than that - but it's important to think about how these incentives can shape the course of things. Thanks for the article!