Ethereum Classic (ETC) is the original Ethereum blockchain — the chain that continued unaltered after the 2016 DAO hack controversy split the Ethereum community. When The DAO — a decentralised venture fund built on Ethereum — was exploited for $60M due to a smart contract bug, the Ethereum core team proposed a controversial hard fork to reverse the hack and return funds to victims. Most of the community followed the fork to what became “Ethereum” (ETH). A minority — upholding the principle of “code is law” and blockchain immutability — continued the original chain as Ethereum Classic (ETC).
Ethereum Classic key characteristics: Immutability as a core value — ETC’s identity is built on the principle that blockchains should never be altered, even to correct hacks; Proof of Work — unlike Ethereum which switched to PoS in 2022, ETC retained PoW (Etchash algorithm), making it a haven for GPU miners who left ETH after the Merge; Fixed supply cap — ETC has a capped supply of ~210 million coins, unlike ETH which is variable; EVM compatibility — ETC runs the same smart contract environment as Ethereum. ETC has faced multiple 51% attacks (due to its lower hashrate vs ETH), which significantly damaged its credibility as a secure network. It remains in the top 50 by market cap, sustained by a loyal community of PoW advocates and miners.
Example: After Ethereum’s transition to Proof of Stake in 2022, thousands of ETH miners with GPU rigs switch to mining Ethereum Classic, tripling ETC’s hashrate overnight and causing its price to surge 100%+ as mining demand spikes.
Learn more: Ethereum Classic — Why Classic?
