What is Ethereum Classic?

You may already know that there is another version of Bitcoin called Bitcoin Cash, which is not part of the Bitcoin price index. But did you also know that there are multiple versions of Ethereum too? Ethereum Classic is one of these versions. In fact, this is even the original Ethereum, hence ‘Classic’ in the name. In other words, the coin that currently has the highest Ethereum price, is not the original Ethereum cryptocurrency. In this article you can read more about Ethereum Classic.

What is ETC, or Ethereum Classic?

Ethereum Classic is considered the start of Ethereum. In reality, Ethereum is a split from Ethereum Classic. This took place after the hack of TheDAO on June 17, 2016. While the startup Slock.it raised more than $ 200 million, partly in Ethereum, a hacker managed to embezzle some of that money. It intervenes to go back and thus divide the blockchain into two different entities, so that the contributors can be paid back. As a result, a second Ethereum blockchain emerged, backed by all the big names in Ethereum such as Vitalik Buterin. Ethereum Classic is thus the original Ethereum blockchain, hence the word “Classic”. One of ETC’s mottos is “immutable,” meaning that it is impossible for the blockchain to change. For the contributors of Ethereum Classic, no matter what, there should be no going back. No one should be able to make changes, no matter what the cause is. While the majority of people have switched to Ethereum, including Vitalik Buterin and Gavin Wood, some people have stuck with the [Ethereum Classic], mainly for ideological reasons.

How does Ethereum Classic work?

The immutability of the blockchain is thus one of the core points of ETC. Whatever happens, the ETC blockchain cannot be changed. Once something has happened, it is almost unthinkable to return: “code is law”. ETC, furthermore, uses the [Ethereum] Virtual Machine (EVM) that can execute scripts, smart contracts, dApps. The capabilities of [Ethereum Classic\ are largely comparable to those of [Ethereum]. ETC makes it possible to transfer value to other people for example, as well as to execute smart, automatic and complex contracts that cannot be changed or censored. The specifics of the blocks’ duration, size, and rewards are almost identical. Besides that, the desire to focus on the IoT (Internet of Things) has been clearly announced. The goal of [Ethereum Classic] is to become an efficient way to connect many devices around the world to exchange value and contracts.

What are ETC’s problems?

One of ETC’s problems is the lack of compatibility with Ethereum. While the majority of the community, and thus developers, have moved to this new blockchain, ETC is no longer compatible with ETH updates. Indeed, while ETH will gradually transition to proof of stake (PoS), ETC will continue to evolve into proof of work (PoW). This way, miners have to solve complex math calculations in order to create new blocks. Do you want to mine ETC? It is then a good option to join a mining pool, such as ETC Pool Crypto, MinerGate or Epool.

What does the future of Ethereum Classic look like?

[Ethereum Classic] is a fairly old blockchain considering it is the very first Ethereum version. However, there are many developers working on this blockchain, which is why it has a bright future ahead of it. On the other hand, it is quite unclear what the actual future plans are for this blockchain, which is not the case when looking at the Ripple price. Therefore, you should do your own research into the future of Ethereum Classic before you start investing in this crypto coin.