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Ethereum Classic (ETC) is one of the most hardcore old projects in the cryptocurrency world, simply put, it is the original Ethereum.
In 2016, Ethereum experienced the famous DAO hacking incident, losing 3.6 million ETH. To recover the funds, the community voted to change the chain and return the stolen assets, resulting in the current Ethereum (ETH). However, a portion of the community adamantly disagreed with altering history, insisting that code is law, which led to the fork creating ETC — Ethereum Classic.
ETC is that unalterable chain, with block history and consensus rules identical to those of 2016, having undergone no hard forks, claiming to be truly decentralized. Because of this philosophy, ETC attracts a group of very devout fundamentalists who believe that changing the chain is a betrayal of the blockchain spirit.
Technically, ETC is similar to early Ethereum, supporting smart contracts, utilizing EVM, and PoW consensus (still mining today). However, due to a small community and few developers, its ecosystem has never kept up with ETH, with DApps, DeFi, and NFTs being scarce.
By 2025 it will still exist, but is basically a historical relic + mining coin, ranked outside the top few dozen by market cap.
$ETC tokens are mainly used for paying gas fees, staking (still mining after the PoS to PoW transition), and belief holding. The community is low-key but very united, constantly criticizing the centralization of ETH being controlled by big companies on X, yet managing to survive quite stubbornly.
In summary: ETC does not seek speed or size; it only seeks to never change. It is the most hardcore old stubbornness in the cryptocurrency space, living like a legend.
$ETC
{future}(ETCUSDT)