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What's the Difference Between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic?

What is the difference between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic? What makes them separate? Do they have different owners? What can they offer me?

By Kelsey LangePublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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Discovering the difference between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic will better allow investors to choose the correct platform for their preferences and needs.

Platforms that were split from one established software platform, the two sources have a long history. Because once, it was only Ethereum. So what makes Ethererum Classic, and who is behind the platform? Plus, which is more profitable, and of course, what are the main difference?

The History Behind the Split

To begin the story behind the split of Ethereum and Ethereum Classic, and ultimately discover the difference between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic, we must start by introducing the DAO. The DAO is short for the decentralized autonomous organization.

And they were a complex smart contract. The DAO began to collaborate with Ethereum, an already established software platform based on blockchain technology, featuring smart contracts and Ether, a cryptocurrency that is a product of the Ethereum platform.

The DAO and Ethereum worked together with the plan of investors sending their money to The DAO, in return for tokens, depending on how much they were investing. Then, they would use those tokens to decided how The DAO should disperse the funds that were made from this transaction.

The DAO Hack

However, The DAO was hacked, by transferring the funds to another DAO, in which the attackers controlled. Moving forward, those who were invested in the Ethereum community tallied a vote.

The results were that the participants wanted to change the code to get the funds rightfully back to the investors. However, those who disagreed with the results of this vote took action.

This is how Ethereum Classic was created. The minority of the voters banded together to create a platform that is free from a history of tampering. The vote also resulted in Ethereum creating a new blockchain that moved the funds that were lost in the collaboration with The DAO to another address.

Ethereum Classic was created from the disapproval of Ethereum's choices, as they believe that a hack should not be reversed once transactions have been made, but rather started new.

Who created Ethereum Classic?

Ethereum Classic has four developers; however, they are mostly anonymous. The lead organizer is referred to as Arvicco, as he won't reveal his identity. And the platform is similar to Ethereum.

Though it is an entirely separate platform to Ethereum, anyone is welcome to join, and they pride themselves on being an open-source community.

Ethereum and Ethereum Classic creators are entirely different.

And most surprising of all, the early Ethereum CEO, Charles Hoskinson, helped the Ethereum Classic project, though he left the team in 2014. And who first belonged to the Ehterum Classic were those who strongly disagreed with Ethereum's team moving the funds that were hacked.

A big difference between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic, it is important to understand that these two platforms are controlled by entirely separate groups, a common misperception by those who aren't aware of the history of the platform.

What does this mean for Ethereum?

The hack in general means that Ehtereum token holders must take action to effectively separate their addresses. This way, their tokens are safe from replay attacks. This also goes for people who hold tokens of both blockchains. Though this process might be tedious, it is well worth the trouble.

The split also meant that the prices for both of the cryptocurrencies rose. As a difference between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic, Ethereum forked twice to avoid other similar attacks. It also means that Ethereum's user count could suffer.

What does this mean for Ethereum Classic?

However, the creation of Ehterium Classic, or ETC, is not all sunshine and roses. One of the main problems with ETC is the fact that the platform lacks backward compatibility with the Hard Fork.

They will also not be able to implement the software that Ethereum has been doing, for example, the Proof of Work to the Proof of Stake upgrade.

Which is more profitable?

The value difference between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic is that Ethereum has value due to the time and the restructuring of the platform.

While Ethereal Classic has gained value because of the people who believe in the project, which leads to most investments, the market value is unopinionated, and it is apparent that market cap of ETH is larger than ETC's. But this does not mean that there is not room for growth for either platform.

What's the difference?

To summarize what we've gone over, let's discover the ultimate differences between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic, and what makes them entirely separate platforms. ETH is referred to as being more of a software company.

Operating on a new blockchain, ETH uses most of the same protocols that Ethereum Classic uses, but it still considered to be a new version. Doing a similar function, ETC runs its community with the basis of 10 percent of the original blockchain.

Ethereum vs Ethereum Classic

Back to Etherum, ETH is looking to outgrow ETC, in which they will have more forks in the near future to grow. The price being driven by speculators, this is the same as ETC. However, with the possibility to grow due to forks, this improves its strength and trustworthiness that was originally lost in the conception of ETC.

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About the Creator

Kelsey Lange

Passionate about writing, animals, makeup, movies, friends, family, learning, exercising, and laughing!

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