Ethereum Classic (ETC) is an open-source, public, blockchain-based decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or 3rd party interference. It provides a decentralized Turing-complete virtual machine, the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which can execute scripts using an international network of public nodes. Ethereum Classic also provides a value token called “classic ether”, which can be transferred between participants, stored in a cryptocurrency wallet and is used to compensate participant nodes for computations performed.
The classic ether token is traded on cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance under the ticker symbol ETC. Gas, an internal transaction pricing mechanism, is used to prevent spam on the network and allocate resources proportionally to the incentive offered by the request.
The Ethereum platform has been forked into two versions: “Ethereum Classic” (ETC) and “Ethereum” (ETH). Prior to the fork, the token had been called Ethereum. After the fork, the new tokens kept the name Ethereum (ETH), and the old tokens were renamed Ethereum Classic (ETC).