Ethereum vs. Ethereum Classic What are the differences?

Ethereum vs. Ethereum Classic What are the differences
The global cryptocurrency space has a large coin and token market. However, among them, there are still preferred ones for many crypto traders and investors. ethereum (ETH) and Ethereum Classic (VB) are among them.

The Ethereum network has received various splits into different independent blockchains. The last one—EthereumPoW—happened after the merge. Although Ethereum Classic has Ethereum in its name, it has different features than Ethereum. It is important to understand how ETH differs from VB before deciding which one is correct. This article will share their history, differences and other important information.

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum is a decentralized open source blockchain-based distributed computing platform and operating system with smart contract (scenario) functionality. Ethereum was proposed by Vitalik Buterin, a cryptocurrency researcher and programmer, in late 2013. It was founded by Vitalik Buterin in 2015 and is the second largest cryptocurrency network after Bitcoin in terms of market capitalization.


The main feature of Ethereum is the use of smart contracts. These digital programs can be used to facilitate, verify or enforce the performance of a contract or agreement between two parties without the need for a third party. Smart contracts are stored on the blockchain and can be written in various languages. As a result, they can be used for a variety of purposes, from crowdfunding and managing financial assets to creating decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and decentralized applications (dApps).


Ethereum also has the cryptocurrency Ether (ETH). ETH is used to pay transaction fees and power the network. Transactions on the Ethereum network are secured using cryptography and distributed consensus algorithms — proof of stake (PoS). Ethereum also provides tools for developers to build decentralized applications. One of these is Solidity, an open-source programming language that allows developers to write code that will run on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)

What is Ethereum Classic?

Ethereum Classic is a blockchain-based distributed computing platform and operating system that enables users to develop, deploy and run smart contracts and dApps. These applications can facilitate business transactions, manage digital assets, and handle various financial transactions. Transactions are secured using encryption and are processed and verified by all participants in the network.

The network is designed to be censorship-resistant, reliable, immutable and secure, allowing users to build their applications without relying on centralized third parties. Ethereum Classic also facilitates the development of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) that allow collective decision-making and exchange of value between stakeholders.

Unlike Ethereum, which switched to a proof-of-stake consensus system in September 2022, Ethereum Classic continues to adhere to the proof-of-work (PoW) algorithm. The PoW mechanism allows miners to compete to solve cryptographic puzzles to verify transactions and create new blocks on the blockchain. In addition, it provides the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), a decentralized virtual machine that can execute scripts using an international network of public nodes.

There is also a history behind the creation of the network, often referred to as the ‘little brother of Ethereum. '

History of Ethereum Classic: Dao Event.

Ethereum Classic was forked from Ethereum in 2016 after a hard fork of the original Ethereum blockchain in response to the DAO hack. However, it preserves the original Ethereum blockchain, meaning all transactions and smart contracts before the DAO hack are still part of the ETC chain.

What happened?

The Ethereum blockchain was hacked during the DAO hack. An unknown hacker stole $50 billion worth of DAO tokens, causing controversy in the cryptocurrency community. Some community members thought Ethereum needed a fork to recover stolen funds. The hard fork was made to undo illegal transactions.

The rest felt that a hard fork of the blockchain could lead to the threat of moral hazard, which could lead to other examples of forks. As a result, the network was split into two different blockchain chains. The original chain was renamed Ethereum Classic after 87% of the community voted for the fork. Although the two blockchains followed different paths, they used the same blockchain record before branching.

The first Ethereum Classic block was created on July 20, 2016. Since then, future updates to the Ethereum blockchain are not Ethereum Classic compatible.

Differences Between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic?

Since the hard fork, divisions have formed between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. This part of the article will compare both coins based on consensus mechanism, market supply, value, and Transaction speed and fees.

Idea Mechanism
The main difference between the two protocols is the consensus mechanism. Ethereum started using the Proof-of-Work (PoW) mining algorithm, but switched completely to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) during the merger in 2022. On the other hand, the Ethereum Classic network still uses the PoW algorithm and has no plans to switch to another one.

Supply
The Ethereum Classic network, like Bitcoin, has a maximum supply of 210,700,000 ETC — 10x higher than bitcoin. However, the total supply is also the same amount. On the other hand, the Ethereum network has unlimited ETH resources, but the total resource of the platform is around 125,000,000 ETH.

Transaction Speed and Fees
Both systems can process 12-15 transactions per second (TPS).

In terms of transaction fees, Ethereum Classic beats Ethereum. The average transaction fee on Ethereum Classic is close to zero. On the other hand, Ethereum's gas fees are expensive, especially considering the recent increase in network congestion. Gas fees can reach $15 and must be paid in ETH, resulting in increased demand as more tokens are issued.

Regardless of the differences in the principles of the two projects, their goal is to develop a large-scale, decentralized blockchain ecosystem that allows users to execute smart contracts without third-party interference, censorship and fraud.

The clear winner for now is Ethereum (ETH) because it is not only popular with investors, developers, and ICOs, it is home to many tokens (fungible and non-fungible) and thousands of dApps. These positive aspects have made Ethereum the second largest crypto project