Why is ETC still alive and making some occasional pumps?

Basically the title. From my understanding, the more trading volume and transactions, number of Dapps and NFTs deployed/minted on a blockchain,etc the more it can survive bear markets and maintain its price. In the meantime, there is a dead chain called ETC that isn't used for payments, Dapps, NFTS , and lacks trading volume , but it is still has maintained some decent price movement over the years and even does some pumps. How could you explain this? Is ETC just a shitcoin that gets pumped and dumped by whales in the space? And does adoption = sustainability?