| Ethereum vs Ethereum Classic | Ethereum (ETH) | Ethereum Classic (ETC) |
| Supply | Ethereum still has an uncapped total supply of ETH, its cryptocurrency. However, it does have a fixed yearly supply of 18 million ETH – something which Ethereum Classic does not. | Ethereum Classic has changed from an uncapped total supply to a total supply of somewhere between 210 million ETC and 230 million ETC. This change in and of itself is a massive difference between the two networks and will have varying impacts on the future of the projects. |
| The DAO Hard Fork | Following the DAO hack in 2016, Ethereum split into two blockchains – Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. Ethereum was the result of the hard fork, which reversed the $50 million (at the time) USD theft. The hard fork made the hack transaction invalid, so investors in DAO could make up their losses. | Supporters of Ethereum Classic opted not to move to the new Ethereum blockchain following the DAO attack. However, they were in the minority (only about 10% of users remained on the Ethereum Classic blockchain), and therefore they never regained the $50 million USD lost in the theft. |
| ICOs and Investor Confidence | Ethereum is the leading blockchain for ICOs, holding over 80% of the market share. The ICO tokens are generally based on the ERC-20 token model. Ethereum is also constantly expanding its functionalities, and has better developer support than Ethereum Classic. Overall, Ethereum seems to enjoy vastly more investor confidence, and it remains the second-largest blockchain (at the time of writing). | While Ethereum Classic still works with smart contracts and dApps, it is a far less popular choice for ICOs than Ethereum. Ethereum has greater support from investors, and all round functionality is better on the new blockchain. |
| Consensus Algorithm | Ethereum is in the process of moving to a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm. This will make the blockchain faster, safer, and more democratic. | Ethereum Classic functions using a Proof of Work consensus algorithm, and has no plans to switch to PoS. |
| Market Cap | At the time of writing, Ethereum has a market cap of $19 billion USD. | At the time of writing, Ethereum Classic has a market cap of $531 million USD. |
Ethereum is a public, open-source software platform built to support smart contract functionality. The network uses Ether (ETH) as its currency to process transactions and provide computational power to developers. The network also allows developers to build decentralised smart contract applications on top of it. For example, both Tether and Augur run on the Ethereum network.
The concept of a smart contract is critical to the understanding of Ethereum (ETH) vs Ethereum Classic (ETC). In simple terms, a smart contract is an agreement between two parties written in code. It sets out conditions that have to be met by each party for the contract to be executed. Once conditions are met, the contract is processed by the blockchain and executed without a need for third-party verification. Coupled with the immutability of the blockchain and its open-source design, smart contracts present an opportunity for many businesses. In fact, in 2019, Forbes identified more than 100 large American companies actively exploring blockchain technology, with many of them using the Ethereum network.
Ethereum Classic (ETC) is the original Ethereum blockchain. ETH and ETC share the same blockchain record before the July 2016 hard fork. Because of that, the initial design and functionality of these two networks were essentially the same. The hard fork in 2016 split the blockchain into Ethereum Classic and Ethereum, dividing the community at the time. Most developers chose to upgrade to the new Ethereum protocol, limiting the size of the ETC community and its ability to improve the network.