Ethereum Classic
Ethereum Classic is an open source, blockchain-based distributed computing platform featuring smart contract (scripting) functionality. It supports a modified version of Nakamoto consensus via transaction-based state transitions executed on a public Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
Ethereum Classic maintains the original, unaltered history of the Ethereum network. The Ethereum project’s mainnet initially released via Frontier on 30 July 2015. However, due to a hack of a third-party project, the Ethereum Foundation created a new version of the Ethereum mainnet on 20 July 2016 with an irregular state change implemented that erased The DAO theft from the Ethereum blockchain history. The Ethereum Foundation applied their trademark to the new, altered version of the Ethereum blockchain. The older, unaltered version of Ethereum was renamed and continued on as Ethereum Classic.
Ethereum Classic’s native Ether token is a cryptocurrency traded on digital currency exchanges under the currency code ETC. Ether is created as a reward to network nodes for a process known as “mining”, which validates computations performed on Ethereum Classic’s EVM. Implemented on 11 December 2017, the current ETC monetary policy seeks the same goals as bitcoin of being mechanical, algorithmic, and capped. ETC can be exchanged for network transaction fees or other assets, commodities, currencies, products, and services.
Ethereum Classic provides a decentralized Turing-complete virtual machine, the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which can execute scripts using an international network of public nodes. The virtual machine’s instruction set is Turing-complete in contrast to others like bitcoin script. Gas, an internal transaction pricing mechanism, is used to mitigate spam and allocate resources on the network.