Introduction to Ethereum Classic (ETC)

Ethereum Classic is the original Ethereum, while ETH is a fork from that original blockchain. In that sense, both ETC and ETH are platforms with smart contracts on the blockchain, executed under certain conditions, and where applications can be developed.

The event that made Ethereum fork between ETH and ETC was caused by a hack of the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). The DAO was an independent entity of Ethereum, a venture capital with the goal of funding dApps developed on Ethereum.

The DAO was very successful and was able to raise $150 million after just one month of being created. The rapid growth also lead to lack of security, particularly on a Split Function of the DAO, which would give the funders that wanted out of the DAO the value they had invested, to a called child DAO.

On June 2016, $50 million were hacked from the DAO, one third of its value, simply by repeating the slip function over and over again. Despite controversy and divisions, the majority of the Ethereum community voted for a fork, as the $50 million were still on the hacker’s child DAO and could not be moved as agreed on the smart contract, and the fork would allow recovering that value.

10% of the Ethereum community, though, defended the immutability of the blockchain and remained with the original blockchain, the newly renamed Ethereum Classic – ETC. This moment was called the most important in crypto history since Bitcoin by Gavin Wood, Ethereum co-founder, and happened around block 1.920.000.

At that block ETH was split from the main chain and a refund smart contract was made, to restore the funds to their owners. ETC was born.

ETC and ETH have, therefore, the same protocol, but while ETC remains immutable, ETH is a growing and open to software changes. ETC is now not compatible with the improvements ETH has made, namely the change from PoW to PoS. Other difference is that ETC remained with a smaller community.

In this sense, Ethereum lost some of its strength, as it happens with any division, despite being well-known and at the top of the crypto world. On the other hand, ETC becomes a smaller coin with no perspectives for innovation or growth, as usually happens with immutable technology.

This is a brief introduction to Ethereum Classic, but if you want to know more about the coin, what people are saying about it, technical details, jump right in any of the links we present below. They are well worth reading before investing!

Ethereum Classic vs Ethereum: What’s the difference?

Long Term Outlook for Ethereum Classic

Ethereum Classic — Digital gold for a modern era

Your source for Bitcoin, Blockchain, and Everything Ethereum Classic.