Ethereum Classic (ETC) is a decentralized, open-source blockchain network that came into existence in July 2016 after the Ethereum network experienced a hard fork, a change to the blockchain's protocol or basic set of rules, creating two separate blockchains: Ethereum (ETH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC). Though sometimes confused with Ethereum, Ethereum Classic is now a totally different cryptocurrency with different technological and philosophical goals, specifically focusing on immutability, popularly expressed as "code is law." Ethereum Classic was established to uphold the integrity of the original Ethereum blockchain in the wake of a substantial hacking incident. The network's primary role is to function as a smart contract network, facilitating the development and support of decentralized applications (DApps). ETC is Ethereum Classic's native currency, which is used to power transactions and smart contracts on its network. Ethereum Classic strives to preserve the original Ethereum blockchain without artificially reversing the consequences of the DAO hack. It operates on a proof-of-work (PoW) mining algorithm and does not intend to transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism like Ethereum did., Ethereum Classic is a decentralized computing system that can run a wide variety of applications.

Ethereum Classic functions on a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm akin to Bitcoin. Like Ethereum and its native unit ETH, Ethereum Classic users pay fees in ETC to execute smart contracts, and you can think of it as the fuel that keeps the whole thing running (which is why those fees are called "gas"). Miners utilize their hardware to solve intricate mathematical equations and validate transactions on the Ethereum Classic network. The first miner to solve the equation and validate a new block is compensated with a block reward in the form of ETC tokens. Biweekly, the network automatically modifies the difficulty of mining Ethereum Classic to maintain a consistent block production rate. The new difficulty is determined by the total computational power of the network, and it becomes increasingly challenging to mine ETC as more miners join the network. Like ETH, new ETC is issued to the circulating supply as a reward for miners as new blocks of transactions are added to the blockchain. Unlike ETH, however, which doesn't have a fixed supply, ETC has a maximum supply of 210,700,000 coins.

The primary use case for Ethereum Classic is to function as a platform for decentralized applications (DApps) and smart contracts. It strives to uphold the principle of "Code is Law," resisting censorship and delivering unstoppable applications. This positions it as a potential foundational layer for future smart contract platforms. Ethereum Classic also aims to distinguish itself from Ethereum by preserving its original PoW algorithm and adhering to its decentralized philosophy.

Ethereum Classic was introduced in July 2016 as a hard fork of Ethereum, a radical change to the protocol of Ethereum that resulted in two branches, one that followed the previous protocol (Ethereum) and one that follows the new version (Ethereum Classic). This fork resulted from disagreements within the Ethereum community about how to address a significant hack that led to the theft of 3.6 million ETH. Those who disagreed with the decision to revert the blockchain to negate the effects of the hack continued on the original chain, which became Ethereum Classic, while other users upgraded to the latest version of Ethereum. Ethereum Classic has since diverged from Ethereum in terms of technical roadmap and philosophy.

Powerful computers mine (understand "create") ETC, adding it to the circulating supply. While Ethereum Classic can be mined using widely available graphics processors, it's most likely not profitable unless you use an ASIC, a specialized device designed for crypto mining. After Ethereum Classic's fork from Ethereum in 2016, Ethereum Classic has struggled to compete in terms of market capitalization, developers, and network security as measured by total mining power. Over its history, Ethereum Classic has been subject to numerous "51% attacks" in which malicious actors control most of the mining power and can thus spend coins they didn't own (also known as a double spend attack).

You can buy, send, and receive ETC via exchanges like Coinbase.