Ethereum Classic (ETC) is a cryptocurrency that originated from a split or "hard fork" of the original Ethereum blockchain. This split occurred in July 2016 as a result of a divergence in the Ethereum community following a major hacking event known as the DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) hack. In this event, an attacker exploited a vulnerability in the DAO's smart contract code, leading to the theft of over 3.6 million Ether, worth around $50 million at the time.
The Ethereum community faced a significant decision: whether to reverse the hack through a hard fork, effectively "rewinding" the blockchain to return the stolen funds or to proceed without making these changes. The majority supported the hard fork, which led to the creation of what is now known as Ethereum (ETH), where the stolen funds were returned to their original owners.
However, a portion of the community opposed the hard fork on the principle of "immutability," a foundational concept in blockchain technology that argues the ledger should not be altered after the fact, regardless of the circumstances. They continued to support the original blockchain, which was renamed Ethereum Classic (ETC). Thus, Ethereum Classic and Ethereum have since evolved as separate projects with different development teams, communities, and goals. However, they share much of the same codebase up to the point of the fork.
Ethereum Classic retains the original Ethereum blockchain's vision, emphasizing the principle of "Code is Law," and focuses on preserving the untouched history of the Ethereum network. It operates as a decentralized computing platform that can execute smart contracts—self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement directly written into code. ETC is used within the Ethereum Classic network to pay for transaction fees and computational services.
Despite the split, Ethereum Classic has continued to develop its platform, focusing on stability, technology, and a distinct philosophy from Ethereum. However, it's important to note that Ethereum has since become the more widely adopted platform, with a larger developer community and more applications built on its network.
