I don't think ETC is just a pump. People legitimately like it against all odds (51% threat, hacker owning a huge portion of coins, no original dev team, etc) because it's not a bailout coin and because Vitalik is not behind it.
My fear is that the hacker might be hoarding ETC for a massive dump in future. That will be awful for long term holders, I personally would not consider holding a coin that has not lasted for at least 1.5 years