Ethereum Classic, a blockchain born from Ethereum's split, maintains originality, decentralized governance, and a commitment to immutability. More
Fully Diluted Valuation | $2.38B |
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24H Trading Volume | $100.33M |
24H Low / High | $14.74 / $ 16.05 |
Circulating Supply | 153.95M |
Total Supply | 153.95M |
Max Supply | 210.70M |
Categories | Smart Contract Platform 3 more |
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Founder | Ethereum Classic Community |
Website | ethereumclassic.org |
Socials | 13 more |
Explorer | Blockscout 4 more |
Name | Pair | OG Score |
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Ethereum Classic $ETC is a decentralized, Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchain that emerged from a hard fork of Ethereum in 2016. The split occurred following the DAO hack, which compromised approximately $50 million in Ether at the time.
After the DAO events, the Ethereum community debated between a hard fork to restore lost funds and a soft fork to leave the ledger unchanged. A non-binding vote among mining pools showed that 65% opposed the hard fork. Despite this, Vitalik Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation implemented the hard fork, restoring the stolen Ether and creating Ethereum $ETH. Those committed to immutability continued on the original chain, forming Ethereum Classic $ETC. This famously split the Ethereum community and established ETC as a defender of blockchain permanence and decentralization.
Source News.Bitcoin.Com
Key milestones for ETC include:
Maintaining Ethereum $ETH compatibility.
The Thanos upgrade in 2020, improving mining efficiency.
Reducing the blockchain’s state size, enabling smaller operators to participate.
Ethereum Classic $ETC runs on a decentralized Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and continues to use Proof-of-Work, unlike Ethereum $ETH, which transitioned to Proof-of-Stake in 2022. The network supports smart contracts, enabling programmable transactions without intermediaries.
Key features include:
Immutability: Ensures tamper-proof records for trust in DeFi and enterprise use.
Backward compatibility: Supports seamless migration of Ethereum $ETH dApps.
Network upgrades: Atlantis and Agharta enhance interoperability and scalability.
Ethereum Classic $ETC supports a variety of applications:
Decentralized Finance (DeFi): Lending, liquidity pools, and stablecoin issuance.
NFTs: Minting and trading digital collectibles without administrative barriers.
Enterprise blockchain solutions: Mining operations by Core Scientific showcase institutional confidence in ETC.
The ETC Cooperative provides ecosystem funding and supports community-driven development initiatives.
The native cryptocurrency, ETC, functions to:
Pay transaction fees and execute smart contracts.
Incentivize miners maintaining the PoW network.
Preserve scarcity with a capped supply of 210 million ETC, enhanced by halving events that create deflationary pressure.
The PoW system ensures robust security, attracting users who prioritize decentralization and computational integrity.
Ethereum Classic $ETC benefits from a dedicated developer and miner community, coordinated through the ETC Cooperative, which funds improvements and promotes sustainable governance.
Significant partnerships include:
Ledger and Trezor for secure wallet integration.
Analytics providers like Messari.
Mining operators supporting long-term PoW operations.
As of 2025, Ethereum Classic $ETC has:
Enhanced scalability via state size reduction and node optimizations.
Maintained interoperability with Ethereum $ETH.
Increased institutional adoption, especially from mining companies.
Integrated decentralized oracle networks, improving dApp data access.
These initiatives reinforce ETC’s commitment to immutability, security, and decentralized governance.
Ethereum Classic $ETC remains a resilient and immutable blockchain, committed to Proof-of-Work security and decentralized governance. Its backward compatibility with Ethereum $ETH, ongoing upgrades, and active community make it a reliable platform for developers, enterprises, and users seeking trust, transparency, and blockchain integrity.
Immutability ensures the blockchain remains tamper-proof, providing a trusted ledger for secure transactions.
After the DAO hack, a non-binding mining pool vote showed 65% opposed a hard fork, but Vitalik Buterin and the Foundation implemented it anyway, creating Ethereum $ETH. Supporters of immutability continued on the original chain, forming Ethereum Classic $ETC.
PoW ensures security, incentivizes miners, and maintains decentralization, appealing to users who prioritize computational integrity.
The Thanos upgrade (2020) improved mining efficiency, network longevity, and accessibility for smaller miners.
Upgrades like Atlantis and Agharta ensure smooth dApp migration and interoperability.
The ETC Cooperative funds ecosystem projects, supports technical improvements, and promotes sustainable governance.
By reducing blockchain state size and optimizing node software, ETC enhances scalability while preserving decentralization.
ETC maintains compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), allowing developers to migrate early-stage decentralized applications (dApps) and ERC-20 smart contracts from Ethereum. However, the developer community around ETC is relatively small and less active compared to Ethereum $ETH. As a result, many recent Ethereum mainnet developments and upgrades introduced after the 2016 fork may not be supported on ETC, limiting compatibility primarily to projects deployed before or around the fork.
The 2016 DAO hack split the Ethereum community. After a non-binding vote where 65% of miners opposed a hard fork, Vitalik Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation executed the hard fork, creating Ethereum $ETH. Supporters of immutability continued on the original chain, forming Ethereum Classic $ETC.
Immutability ensures the blockchain remains tamper-proof, providing a trusted ledger for secure, unchangeable transactions. This principle attracts developers and institutions seeking reliable decentralized infrastructure.
ETC uses a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism. Miners validate transactions across a distributed network of nodes, ensuring immutability, censorship resistance, and network reliability.
Yes. ETC supports EVM-compatible smart contracts for minting NFTs and deploying DeFi protocols such as lending, staking, and liquidity pools. Its secure and immutable ledger provides a trustworthy foundation for digital assets and financial applications.
Through network upgrades like Atlantis and Agharta, ETC maintains EVM compatibility, allowing seamless migration of smart contracts and dApps from Ethereum without requiring major rewrites.
The ETC Cooperative funds technical upgrades, ecosystem projects, and developer initiatives. By supporting node software improvements and fostering community collaboration, it ensures ETC’s long-term sustainability and network growth.
ETC has a capped supply of 210 million tokens. Halving events reduce miner rewards over time, creating deflationary pressure and preserving the token’s intrinsic value, appealing to both investors and developers.
ETC’s immutability, predictable supply, and robust PoW security attract mining companies and enterprises seeking a stable, trustless blockchain for long-term projects.
You can buy Ethereum Classic (ETC) on Binance, MEXCGate.ioBybitBitget cryptocurrency exchanges.