Ethereum vs. Ethereum Classic

The Difference between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic



Ethereum was invented in 2013 by Vitalik Buterin and the co-founder team with the collective goal of further developing the blockchain network to attract developers and utilize smart contracts to design decentralized applications (dApps). This goal progressed until one of the applications, called The DAO, was exploited. 



Damage was caused to the network resulting in users' conflict over plausible solutions. A majority of the users aimed to prevent any further loss by conducting a hard fork to rewind to before the damage from the DAO occurred, which later on became the origin of the Ethereum network we know today.

Meanwhile, other users were willing to take the loss and move on in order to preserve the core concept of blockchain as a decentralization network. The network that continued with this theory, later on, became Ethereum Classic.





What is Ethereum (ETH)?



After the separation, Ethereum continuously upgraded in order to progress forward to accomplish its consensus algorithm’s transition from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS) on ETH 2.0 in order to improve the overall effectiveness and to lower gas fee. 



ETH 2.0 is working on its upcoming phase 0 (Beacon Chain) which would be proving PoS network’s performance to guarantee a stronger sense of sustainability, security, and scalability for a better user experience. By accomplishing this goal, users would no longer be required to utilize high computational power or face large electricity bills anymore.



Phase 1 (Merge) is planned to be launched between Q4-2021 or Q1-2022 which Ethereum’s network will fully transmit to Proof of Stake and continue heading on to phase 2 (Shard Chains) in 2022.



Ethereum’s progression led by Vitalik Buterin and his team, along with investors worldwide, has displayed the fact that the hard fork was indeed purposeful, indicated by Ethereum’s second highest-ranked market value in the world. 





What is Ethereum Classic (ETC)?



The network’s decentralized concept has remained preserved for faithful users to progress with the network. Later on, Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK) from Cardano’s development team became a large part of Ethereum Classic’s development team.  



Ethereum Classic is adjusting its system to supply higher reward rates and lower gas fees to attract more miners to further yield a better level of security in the network. Furthermore, They chose to limit the amount of circulating supply within the network and offer the 5M20 Model to reduce the block reward rate by 20% in every 5 million blocks mined. 



In the past few years, Ethereum Classic has progressed far by mainly focusing on the network’s performance and interoperability functions. However, each development stage has been slowly launched due to the development’s cautiousness of the risks of experiencing another 51% attack as any further loss would result in the hard fork method’s dysfunctionality. 



In more recent times, Ethereum Classic launched a new stage of development stated as “Thanos.” This stage was set to lower a miner’s requirements. Also, the hashrate has been increased to stimulate more users to join the network, further suppressing the chance of a 51% Attack’s occurrence. 





The difference between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic



While both networks mainly provide better performance, Ethereum’s network is trying to shift its consensus algorithm from the current PoW to PoS to openly welcome more developers to the network to design decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contract-related services. 



After the hard fork incident, Ethereum Classic faced five 51% attacks but is still willing to move forward by increasing its reward rate, reducing gas fees, lowering computing power requirements, and raising the hash rate as a solution to the security’s issue and to provide higher network efficiency.





Conclusion



Confliction may occur from differentiating opinions, affecting networks to separate as seen from both Ethereum and Ethereum Classic.



Ethereum has been developing new technological advancements to provide better user experience and also aims to become the highest-ranked platform for decentralized applications and smart contracts with more flexibility than others’ as well.



Nevertheless, we have to admit that Ethereum classic, which believes in preserving the origin core, has been progressing. Even though they have faced numerous periods of attacks, no one can predict the future. As new technological developments are occurring everyday, any platform can become dominant if they are structured to meet the needs of users, while also providing technological advancements as well.





Reference:



Ethereum, eToro, Ethereum Classic, Coindesk