$7.92

Ethereum Classic (ETC) is the original Ethereum blockchain, launched in July 2015, designed to support smart contracts and decentralized applications. Its native token is ETC. The network emerged after a major hack led to a split, with Ethereum Classic preserving the original chain's history without reversing transactions. Over time, its technical path has diverged from Ethereum's, focusing on maintaining the integrity of the original protocol.

Ethereum Classic originated from the original Ethereum chain, so its initial creator is Vitalik Buterin. In July 2016, a hard fork occurred due to disagreements over reversing a significant hack that affected The DAO, which had raised around $150 million. Ethereum Classic represents the chain that chose not to revert. The project has no official team; instead, it operates as a permissionless 'do-ocracy' where anyone can contribute.

Ethereum Classic distinguishes itself through several features. It remains a proof-of-work blockchain, which proponents consider highly secure. It has a fixed supply cap of 210,700,000 ETC, positioning it as 'digital gold' with production costs tied to mining. It supports smart contracts, making it programmable and versatile. Unlike other platforms using sharding or sidechains, ETC is fully replicated across nodes for enhanced security. Composability allows applications to interact seamlessly, and its size as a leading PoW smart contract platform adds to its uniqueness.

Ethereum Classic and Ethereum are separate blockchains with a shared origin. ETC is the original chain from 2015, using proof-of-work. ETH is a fork created in 2016 after a hack, where the community voted to reverse the theft. Governance differs: Ethereum has a more centralized core team, while Ethereum Classic adopts a decentralized approach. Additionally, ETC has a capped supply, whereas ETH does not, and their development paths have diverged.

Ethereum Classic's supply is capped at 210,700,000 ETC, a limit set in December 2017. This is about ten times Bitcoin's cap, and unlike Ethereum, which has no maximum. ETC uses a proof-of-work mining system where miners earn new coins. The block reward decreases by 20% every two years or 5 million blocks. The next reduction is expected around June 2024 at block 20,000,000, lowering the reward from 2.56 to 2.048 ETC per block.

Ethereum Classic relies on proof-of-work consensus, where miners solve complex puzzles to validate transactions and secure the network. It has experienced 51% attacks in the past, including one in August 2020. The blockchain is fully replicated, meaning data is duplicated across many nodes, making it resilient. As the largest proof-of-work smart contract platform, its security has improved, and developers have removed extra safety measures added after the 2020 attacks.

Miners on Ethereum Classic group transactions into blocks, adding a timestamp, the previous block's hash, and a nonce. They repeatedly change the nonce and compute a new hash until it meets a target set by the protocol. This process, called proof-of-work, requires massive computational power and energy. Once a miner finds a valid hash, they broadcast the block for verification and receive the block reward and transaction fees. The average block time is 13 seconds.

Ethereum Classic is widely available on many major exchanges. You can trade ETC against stablecoins, other cryptocurrencies, and fiat currencies. Derivatives and institutional products also exist. Popular platforms include Binance, OKEx, HTX, and Coinbase. For beginners, guides are available to help navigate the process of buying cryptocurrencies.