What Is Ethereum Classic (ETC): Should You Buy This Coin?

Everywhere, people are looking for coins with excellent prospects to buy to make profits.

Whenever a coin experiences a price surge, a lot of people's interests are raised.

Ethereum classic did just that when it experienced a price surge which saw its market price increase to over 300% within a week sometime in May.

Although the price of Ethereum Classic has experienced some pullbacks after the surge, it has undoubtedly attracted a lot of people's interest in the coin. People are beginning to ask;

• What exactly is Ethereum Classic?
• Is this cryptocurrency related to the Ethereum we all know?
• Should we buy this coin?

If you are one of the people asking these questions, this article is for you, because Remitano discusses everything you need to know about this cryptocurrency.

As a cryptocurrency exchange platform, we continue to have many users trade on our platform.

Over the years, we have had users who continue to mistake Ethereum for Ethereum Classic. So, to get started, let's start with understanding what Ethereum Classic is.

What Is Ethereum Classic?

Ethereum Classic is a blockchain-based computing platform that can run smart contracts.

Its network consists of a native cryptocurrency – ether classic (ETC), a blockchain ledger , and a large ecosystem of joined decentralized applications and services.

It is also the original blockchain technology on which the Ethereum we know is built.

The History of Ethereum Classic

Ethereum Classic and Ethereum have a history together.

The history started when Vitalik Buterin conceived the idea to create a new programming language that can run smart contracts and allow decentralized apps and other services to run on its blockchain.

This idea started materializing in 2013, and by 2015, a platform named "Ethereum" was formally launched.

This platform kept gaining momentum and was soon regarded as an alternative to bitcoin.

However, in 2016, something happened that changed the Ethereum course forever.

Some platform enthusiasts devised an inventive and bold plan to create a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO).

DAO would allow users to pool their Ethereum resources together, then jointly decide the projects they can successfully invest in that will leave all parties rewarded.

In 2016, DAO raised more than $150 million worth of Ethereum .

However, about $50 million was lost through a fatal loophole in the code, which an attacker fully exploited.

Although the attacker did not get away with the virtual assets, it left the community picking up pieces of the assets.

This disaster divided the Ethereum community into two parties.

One party wanted a change in the hard fork (the blockchain's base protocols) to reverse the hack and see the funds of money returned to the original holders.

The other party held on to the "code is law" principle and argued that nothing should be done since the blockchain was presumably immutable.

After much deliberation within the Ethereum community, a split was performed, which saw a refund of all affected token holders.

This resulted in two versions of the blockchain running simultaneously; the original blockchain (Ethereum classic) and the new blockchain (Ethereum).

Ethereum is the blockchain formed by the party that wanted a change in the base protocols to refund all affected token holders.

At the same time, Ethereum Classic is the original blockchain supported by the fervent "code is law" believers.

Ethereum and Ethereum Classic – How Do They Differ?

Source: Currency.com

In terms of their essential functions, they are almost the same as both of them use smart contracts and on which developers can run decentralized applications and services.

The only differentiating factor is that the Ethereum Classic cannot be updated due to its hard fork, which operates on the "code is law" principle.

When a set of new rules are implemented, the new chain alongside its users is cut off from the original chain, as with Ethereum (new blockchain).

So, the Ethereum Classic (original chain) blockchain cannot access any new updates like the Ethereum (new chain) blockchain.

Now, you may begin to wonder what the need for the Ethereum classic is since it cannot be updated.

But, remember that the Ethereum classic is very relevant since it preserves the unadulterated and original Ethereum code.

Some developers love building decentralized applications or running services on this network since it is an unaltered part of the Ethereum network.

It offers them more originality. Therefore, its existence is very ideological.

The Native Coin of Ethereum Classic

Imagine a situation where you end up buying Ethereum Classic instead of Ethereum or Ethereum instead of Ethereum Classic.

The duo can cause this type of confusion because both of their native coins are called "ether."

Their difference, however, is in their ticker symbols. Ethereum Classic's native coin is denoted by ETC, while the new Ethereum's native coin is ETH.

Nonetheless, apart from their market value which differs a lot, they perform almost the same functions. For example, you can pay the gas fee for the transactions you use ETC if you are an Ethereum Classic user. In addition to that, ETC can do anything that can also be done with other crypto coins.

Source: Investing Cube

What Makes Ethereum Classic Stand out?

Let's take a look at some of ETC's distinguishing characteristics. Several of them are quite interesting!

Its loyal and dedicated community

One thing that makes Ethereum classic stand out is its ever-loving and dedicated community.

This community has stayed committed to the cause ever since the project has been conceived.

After the DAO incident, they even remained faithful to the cause, which saw the founders breaking off and siding with the hard fork variant (now commonly known as Ethereum) in 2016.

This means that, if anything, the community will continue to build the Ethereum classic network and grow its native coin ether (ETC).

It is immutable

Ethereum classic has an unadulterated ledger from the initial launch of the Ethereum platform in 2015.

Since the Ethereum Classic community is trying to keep it that way, coupled with the fact that the network is censorship-resistant, many developers are becoming more interested in running services or building decentralized apps on the Ethereum Classic's network.

It has less volatility

It is no news that the crypto market can be very volatile at times.

Ethereum classic's native coin, ether (ETC), has shown much stability over the last couple of months compared to some other crypto coins.

A coin with low price volatility means that you experience a reduced risk of losing your money.

This has made it a good investment option for many traders (both short-term and long-term traders).

However, it would help if you remembered that nothing is entirely 100% guaranteed in the world of cryptocurrencies, and ether (ETC) is not an exception.

Promising supply

It is pretty interesting that even after all these years, the number of ETC tokens in circulation is still around 120 million.

This leaves about 90 million ether tokens that are yet to be mined.

This means that as the supply for the coin grows and the crypto market experiences some expansion, it can positively impact the price of the ETC tokens.

What to Look out for in Ethereum Classic

Ethereum classic has its problems that you should be on the lookout for.

Many of these problems are caused by the "Ethereum vs. Ethereum classic" situations, with many people considering Ethereum classic to be a lesser version of Ethereum.

This results in some problems which can be detrimental to both the original Ethereum (Ethereum Classic) and the new Ethereum.

You may also encounter problems when trying to access the Ethereum classic blockchain using an Ethereum wallet or accessing the Ethereum blockchain.

Naturally, these blockchains are products from the same trunk, so they should be compatible.

However, some public wallet addresses may pick sides and not want to grant wallets to users on both sides.

These are reasons that will likely cause a lot of volatility in the value of coins .

This will likely remain the case until both parts of the community reach an agreement.

What Is the Best Time to Buy and Sell Ethereum Classic?

Like other crypto coins, the best time to buy the Ethereum classic native coin , ether (ETC), is when the coin price cannot go lower anymore.

Also, the best time to sell is when the coin's market price can no longer experience an increment.

You may begin to ask, how will I know all that? Frankly, there is no way you can surely know when the price of a coin will not go any lower or higher.

However, you can get good at predicting the time a coin has reached its minimum or maximum price by:

• Reading news and articles that can help you develop a keen eye on the coin market prices and inform you of the factors that will likely affect it.
• Keeping an eye on the coin's price charts and how it moves.

You should also bear in mind that Ethereum classic is a decentralized platform which means that no central body or organization influences the price of its native coin.

The only thing that can affect its price is the dynamics of demand and supply.

These dynamics can be influenced by some market forces like political developments, strict regulations in some countries, and cryptocurrency analysis.

However, if you can buy and sell ETC tokens at the right times, you will most likely profit from trading Ethereum classics.

Conclusion

The decision to buy the Ethereum Classic is yours to make.

However, since you have finished reading this article, your knowledge of Ethereum Classic would have increased.

This knowledge can guide you into making a better decision.

Interestingly, Ethereum Classic is one of the Altcoins listed by Remitano. You can check out other Altcoins available on the Remitano.