what is ethereum classic etc 
ethereum classic etc is an open source decentralized blockchain based distributed cryptocurrency platform that runs smart contracts ethereum classic was established in 2016 after the decentralized autonomous organization dao which used smart contracts operating on the ethereum blockchain was hacked the original blockchain was split in two with the majority of users choosing to reverse the hack and return the stolen funds ethereum classic and ethereum are rooted in the same code but have different technical and philosophical differences understanding ethereum classic etc ethereum classic is a blockchain platform it facilitates smart contracts which automate actions via the blockchain for example if one party agreed to sell an item for a specific price to another the smart contract would automate the payment and transfer of ownership removing the need to trust that either party would fulfill its obligation as noted above the blockchain was split into etc and ethereum after a hacking incident this split revealed philosophical divisions within the ethereum community based on the principle that code is law a small number of developers and miners believed that the dao s investors should suffer the consequences of investing in a flawed cryptocurrency project however the majority of the ethereum community decided to roll back the blockchain effectively creating a bailout for investors there have been many upgrades and improvements to the etc project since the split the goal of the project continues to be working toward becoming a global payment network using smart contracts that can function without centralized governance as with other cryptocurrencies ethereum classic will likely continue to strive to be a digital store of value meaning it can be saved and exchanged while retaining its value as of june 15 2024 the maximum supply of etc was 210 70 million coins with 147 5 million coins in circulation the crypto s market capitalization was 3 78 billion similar to bitcoin ethereum classic records transactions of value it can also be used as a distributed computer to run self executing smart contracts history of ethereum classicethereum was conceived by vitalik buterin and the ethereum foundation and launched in 2015 the ethereum blockchain was established as a network where transactions were facilitated using its native token ether eth the new network quickly became popular for initial coin offerings icos as different teams used the platform to launch their own tokens one of the most successful icos was the dao a decentralized venture fund where investors would vote on assets in which to invest this fund quickly accumulated more than 11 million eth from over 18 000 investors before unknown hackers discovered a smart contract bug allowing them to withdraw about one third of the dao s accumulated ether due to the scale of the hack many investors proposed reversing the ethereum blockchain to rescue the affected investors while others argued that doing so would set the precedent for future bailouts as many as 85 of the miners on the network switched to the hard fork as a result the ethereum blockchain split into two separate networks the newer network inherited the name ethereum and the native token ether the older one was renamed ethereum classic it also uses ether but it has a different symbol etc the network experienced a migration of miners after ethereum integrated proof of stake in 2022 developers have created several apps using its virtual machine concerns about ethereum classicalthough ethereum and ethereum classic offer smart contracts and are after the same market ethereum remains the more popular of the two networks ethereum s eth is second only to bitcoin as the most valuable cryptocurrency network in the world one of ethereum classic s chief concerns is its potential limitations regarding scalability the network can handle between 10 and 20 transactions per second but that number is far less than that of traditional payment networks although ethereum classic underwent many software upgrades the scalability of its payment systems remains one of its biggest challenges cryptocurrency market regulations continue to develop which may or may not change how ethereum classic and other networks operate future of ethereum classicthe future of etc looks less bright than that of ethereum since ethereum remains the more popular of the two networks the blockchain and cryptocurrency failed to gain much traction in the market losing market share to other cryptocurrencies notably bitcoin etc continues trading on exchanges and is mined by the crypto community the blockchain and cryptocurrency hang on to a seemingly solid base of traders and fans like ethereum etc has an improvement proposal process since its hard fork it has undergone several upgrades such as developing compatibility with ethereum s latest changes despite all this demand for etc continues to be strong and there is the possibility that the blockchain and cryptocurrency will remain competitors in the space investors will be able to start trading spot ether exchange traded funds etfs following approval from the securities and exchange commission sec in may 2024 these etfs will trade on the new york stock exchange nyse the nasdaq and the cboe bzx exchange ethereum classic vs ethereumone of the most significant differences from ethereum is that ethereum classic retained its proof of work mechanism and the competitive reward system ethereum used pre merge this means that ethereum classic s token can be mined whereas ethereum s cannot another difference is that ethereum does not have a limit on the number of tokens that can be issued ethereum classic has a limit of 210 7 million coins that will ever be introduced for every five million blocks the ethereum classic blockchain undergoes a fifthening this event is similar to bitcoin s halving where the block rewards are reduced by 20 every two years the last fifthening occurred in june 2024 and the reward dropped to 2 048 etc this reduction of rewards every two years is expected to continue as much as 95 of etc will mined by 2059 