What Is Ethereum Classic (ETC)?

Ethereum Classic (ETC) is a decentralized blockchain platform that supports smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). It originated from the original Ethereum network and preserves the blockchain’s early principles, especially the idea that “Code is Law.”

The creation of Ethereum Classic stems from a major event in 2016, when a security breach in a project called The DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) resulted in the loss of around $60 million in ETH. The DAO was a decentralized venture fund built on Ethereum, but its smart contract vulnerability led to a large-scale hack.

The Ethereum Hard Fork and Split

After the DAO hack, the Ethereum community faced a major ethical and technical dilemma. Most participants voted to reverse the effects of the hack through a hard fork, effectively rewriting the blockchain to return stolen funds.

However, a smaller portion of the community opposed the rollback, believing it went against blockchain’s core principle of immutability, that the blockchain’s history should never be altered.

As a result, the Ethereum network split into two separate blockchains:

• Ethereum (ETH): The new chain that implemented the hard fork.

• Ethereum Classic (ETC): The original chain that refused to reverse transactions.

How Ethereum Classic Works

Ethereum Classic continues to operate under the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism, similar to how Ethereum functioned before its transition to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) in 2022. This means miners validate transactions and secure the network through computational power rather than staking tokens.

While Ethereum (ETH) has evolved with new upgrades, Ethereum Classic remains aligned with its original philosophy, maintaining an unaltered chain and code. Developers can still build smart contracts and dApps on ETC, but its ecosystem is smaller compared to Ethereum’s.

Key Differences Between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic

Consensus Mechanism: ETC uses Proof-of-Work; ETH uses Proof-of-Stake.
Philosophy: ETC follows “Code is Law,” emphasizing immutability.
Ecosystem: ETH has a larger developer and user community.
Upgrades: ETC does not adopt post-fork Ethereum updates.

Conclusion

Ethereum Classic (ETC) represents the original, unaltered version of Ethereum. It upholds the principle that blockchain history should remain immutable, standing as a philosophical counterpart to Ethereum’s evolving network. While smaller in scale, ETC remains a significant blockchain that preserves Ethereum’s foundational ideals and continues to support smart contract innovation.