In order to recover the 12 million ETH that was drained from the DAO by hackers due to the insecurity of the protocol, Ethereum hard forked. Although successful, the Ethereum network hard fork debate led to the Splitting event where the Ethereum network was divided into two, namely, ETH (Ethereum) and ETC (Ethereum Classic) which were developed to maintain the Ethereum network in the same way as when the hard fork case had not occurred. Whoever has ETH at the time of the hard fork will have the same amount of ETC.
For Ethereum Classic, principles come first, and the ETC story begins with phrases that most concisely capture its core philosophy; Code is Law. Code is Law places “Unstoppable” in “Build Unstoppable Applications”, a philosophy enthusiastically lauded by The Ethereum Project to The DAO Hack.
Ethereum Classic, despite not having a central organizing committee, has managed to attract many different types of participants at various points in time who have come and gone, and all contributed and shaped it in their own way. ETC’s greatest strength lies in its philosophy and principles, which can be propagated even without billions of marketing dollars because their value is self-evident, and intelligent minds lean towards them.
There is no way to traditionally compete with blockchain-backed VCs with billion-dollar budgets in the short term. The projects are sure to attract immediate attention, but this reliance on centralized funding and direction comes at the cost of long-term sustainability.
A Vision for the Future
Many who think deeply about the potential of blockchain technology have a “eureka” moment, where everything clicks, and wild valuations of the crypto asset space suddenly feel a little bit. They realized a future could exist where all deals between people were ultimately governed not by corrupt institutions but by the cold hard logic of coded smart contracts.
In this future, individuals decide for themselves which contracts they wish to enter into, not by rolling the dice through the geographic monopoly into which they were born. There are no middlemen because rent hunting in all areas is replaced by disintermediation, market competition and price optimization. This reality is fairer, cheaper, interoperable, and global. It becomes the universal solvent that lubricates hardened old engines.
A new era of human development is unleashed, because society is freed from the inefficiency and obscurity of corruption. It will be a new awakening, a shining ray of hope in the face of darker alternatives, and most importantly, achievable in our lives.
