What is Ethereum Classic?

Ethereum Classic, an alternative to the popular Ethereum? Ethereum has been the second largest project for years and that doesn't seem to change. But what is Ethereum Classic and how does it work?

How does Ethereum Classic work?

Ethereum Classic is inseparable from Ethereum, as they share the same history. But how do they differ and how exactly does Ethereum Classic work?

Hard fork Ethereum

Developers and users no longer agreed on the future of Ethereum. The blockchain showed vulnerabilities, which led to a hack. The solution? The creation of a hard fork of Ethereum. Since then, the original blockchain has continued under the name Ethereum Classic. From that time being, the two blockchains exist separately. Ethereum Classic was created in 2016, three years after the creation of Ethereum.

Smart contracts

Ethereum Classic, like Ethereum, is a smart contract platform. Developers can build various decentralized applications (dApps) on the blockchain. Ethereum Classic supports dApps and smart contracts, which enables automated trading. No central intermediaries or organizations, but a peer-to-peer network for and by users.

A smart contract is a digital contract with certain preset conditions. Do all parties involved meet these conditions? Then the transaction is carried out automatically, without an intermediary. The development and implementation of smart contracts, and thus the creation of Ethereum and Ethereum Classic, are an important evolution for crypto. Several industries have emerged because they use smart contracts. Not only DeFi, but also metaverse and play-to-earn games.

Proof of Work (PoW)

Ethereum Classic uses the Proof of Work consensus algorithm. Users of the network validate new transactions and add blocks to the blockchain. Not only does this keep the blockchain decentralized, but it also keeps the blockchain secure. Validators receive native tokens as a reward for doing so; Ethereum Classic (ETC). Ethereum on the other hand recently changed its consensus algorithm to Proof of Stake (PoS).

Ethereum vs. Ethereum Classic

Both blockchains are a platform for smart contracts and dApps. But what is the difference? Ethereum Classic is the original Ethereum blockchain with ETC as its native token. So Ethereum's current blockchain as we know it is the result of a hard fork in 2016. So both ETC and ETH shared the same blockchain before the fork..

Ethereum has no maximum supply. This means that there is an infinite supply Ether. Ethereum Classic on the other hand has a max supply of just over 210 million ETC tokens.

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