Ethereum Classic

Ethereum Classic
Ethereum Classic
Original author(s)Vitalik Buterin, Gavin Wood
Developer(s)Open-source software development
Initial release30 July 2015; 8 years ago (2015-07-30)
Stable releaseSpiral / 4 February 2024; 5 months ago (2024-02-04)
Development statusActive
Software usedEVM 61 bytecode
FundingOpen Source Software
Written inC++, Go, Python, Rust, Scala
Operating systemCross-platform
Platformx86-64, ARM
SizeArchive: 771GB / Snap Sync: 72GB (2023-Oct-03)
Available inGlobal
TypeOpen Source Software
LicenseOpen-source licenses
As ofOctober 2023
Average performance13.3 Seconds
Active users45,281 Daily Transactions
Total users100,256,926 Addresses
Total hosts693 Nodes
Websiteethereumclassic.org

Ethereum Classic is a blockchain-based distributed computing platform that offers smart contract (scripting) functionality.[1] It is open source and 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.[2] The Ethereum project's mainnet was initially released via Frontier on 30 July 2015. However, due to a hack of a third-party project, The DAO, 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.[2] The Ethereum Foundation applied their trademark to the new, altered version of the Ethereum blockchain.[2] The older, unaltered version of Ethereum was renamed and continued on as Ethereum Classic.[2]

Ethereum Classic's native Ether token is a cryptocurrency traded on digital currency exchanges under the currency code ETC.[3] 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: 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.[4]

  1. ^ Vigna, Paul (28 October 2015). "BitBeat: Microsoft to Offer Ethereum-Based Services on Azure". The Wall Street Journal (Blog). News Corp. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d Vigna, Paul (1 August 2016). "The Great Digital-Currency Debate: 'New' Ethereum Vs. Ethereum 'Classic'". The Wall Street Journal (Blog). News Corp. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  3. ^ Russel, Jon (11 June 2018). "Coinbase will add Ethereum Classic to its exchange 'in the coming months'". TechCrunch.com. TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  4. ^ Tapscott, Don (2016). Blockchain revolution : how the technology behind bitcoin is changing money, business, and the world. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Portfolio/Penguin. ISBN 978-0670069972.