Ethereum Classic is an open source, decentralized, blockchain-based distributed cryptocurrency using smart contracts.
Ethereum Classic was born in 2016 following the hacking of a smart contract on the Ethereum network that resulted in the hijacking of over 10% of the ETH tokens then in circulation.
After much debate, the Ethereum network code was changed to return the lost funds to investors. But some Ethereum nodes objected to the fork on the grounds that it would mean the blockchain would not be immutable, among other reasons, and decided not to run the updated software. These nodes continued to run and operate the pre-fork version of the Ethereum blockchain, now known as Ethereum Classic. The ETC network is permissionless, meaning anyone can join and transact, provided they have a compatible crypto-wallet.
In other words, Ethereum Classic is quite similar to Ethereum. It relies on a blockchain that is not only designed to replace payments, but creates smart contracts and decentralized applications that users can own, transfer ownership of and interact with.
The immutability of the blockchain is one of the key points of ETC. No matter what happens, the ETC blockchain must not be changed. Once something has happened, it is (almost) unthinkable to go back: “code is law”.
ETC uses the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) which can execute scripts, smart-contracts, dApps.
Who is behind the Ethereum Classic crypto?
It should be noted that the Ethereum Foundation does not support Ethereum Classic. The team is composed of many entities. Thus there are 5 entities working jointly on the development of Ethereum Classic:
- ETCDEV is the first of them, it is composed of developers and engineers working on the research and development of the ETC blockchain.
- IOHK is the second, it is more specialized in mathematics.
- ETC COOPERATIVE is the team in charge of the development of the ETC ecosystem and its marketing.
- ETC LABS is a laboratory where many innovations for ETC are tested.
- Ethereum Commonweath works on many blockchain projects and is in charge of the Classic Ether wallet.
Regarding the price development of Ethereum Classic, it reached an all-time high of $176 on May 6, 2021, while the previous day the price was $70.
When the blockchain split in 2016, the price of the ETC crypto was $2.08, after which it collapsed to a value of $0.75 in November. In December 2017, it continued to rise, reaching $46. Then followed another significant drop, reaching a value of $3.76 in December 2018.
In February 2021, it reached a price of $16.90 and in April, the price was $46.68. It then fell on April 25 to $29.73, before rising again in May to $71.93. ETC reached a new high on May 6 at $176.
At the time of writing, September 22, 2022, the price of Ethereum Classic (ETC) is at $28.18 USD, down -3.24% over 24 hours. The ETC crypto currency has a 24-hour trading volume of $1 billion, with a market cap of $3.9 billion.
How to buy ETC?
Do you think Ethereum Classic is a good investment? To buy it, you can go through the Coinbase or Kraken platform, or Binance. For Coinbase, you can buy by credit card or bank transfer. On Kraken you can only make a bank transfer. If you already have Bitcoins or Ethers it is possible to send them to another platform (Binance or Bitfinex) where you can buy ETC.
