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Review on Ethereum Classic by Celil Ozturk
The hack in question is universally considered one of the most defining…
The hack in question is universally considered one of the most defining moments in the history of the Ethereum platform, even though it was not a direct attack against the cryptocurrency itself. In April 2016, an Ethereum-based venture capital fund named the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) was created. The fund was effectively one of the earliest implementations of Ethereum’s smart contracts feature and went on to attract 150 million dollars worth of the currency from investors.
A couple months after the DAO was announced, however, many in the cryptocurrency community began pointing out a rather major flaw in its smart contract execution code. It didn’t take long after that for someone to exploit the DAO and siphon over 3.6 million ETH overnight. Given the extent of the theft, the Ethereum Foundation and a majority of the community favored performing a hard fork to reverse the effect of the hack. As a result, the unaltered chain began being called Ethereum Classic, a nod to its legacy nature, whereas the rolled-back version of the blockchain continued to be called Ethereum.
What is Ethereum Classic and How Does it Work?
Since Ethereum Classic was a result of a hard fork of the original currency, it is essentially a carbon copy of Ethereum in almost every technical and fundamental aspect. While both blockchains are identical prior to the 1920000th block, every transaction that came after is unique to each cryptocurrency and is non-transferable. Because of the overall similarities in their codebases though, it should be noted that Ethereum Classic is every bit as capable as its sibling.
Overall, a sizeable chunk of the cryptocurrency community still believes in continuing to support the original Ethereum blockchain, or the one currently used by Ethereum Classic. As to why some cryptocurrency enthusiasts are against joining a rectified version of the blockchain, is because they staunchly proclaim the rule, ‘code is law’. They insist that, as a matter of principle, external interference in the ownership of the cryptocurrency, even at the hands of its developers to correct a hack, should not be encouraged or g
Pros
- The sudden surge of new cryptocurrency investors in the past year has clearly led to a sudden influx of funds being poured into the asset class. While most people are initially attracted to the ecosystem purely because of Bitcoin’s rising popularity, they eventually notice the sheer number of alternative currencies, or altcoins, that currently populate the digital currency market.
Cons
- Given that Ethereum is the second largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin, it is often the natural progression for new investors. The existence of Ethereum Classic, however, presents common questions regarding its intention and purpose. Before answering those questions, it is important to note that when Ethereum was first unveiled by its founder Vitalik Buterin, there was no Ethereum Classic. The ETC digital token was created in response to a major hack affecting thousands of Ethereum users over the summer of 2016.
