How the Great Ethereum Schism Can End Well for Ethereum Classic (Part 2 of 3)

Ethereum Classic is dominating the cryptocurrency news cycle. After a slumber of some days following the Ethereum hard fork that refunded investors of the hacked DAO, the unforked and re-named Ethereum blockchain and its native token classic ether (ETC) surged. Exchanges enabled trade in the digital currency, investors bought in, miners pointed their hardware to it, and a new development community is forming. But Ethereum Classic also has led to chaos and uncertainty. The forked half of the chain — sometimes dubbed “Ethereum One,” and supported by the Ethereum Foundation — is still running....

Ethereum Classic is dominating the cryptocurrency news cycle. After a slumber of some days following the Ethereum hard fork that refunded investors of the raided DAO, the unforked and re-named Ethereum blockchain and its native token classic ether (ETC) surged. Exchanges enabled trade in the digital currency, investors bought in, miners pointed their hardware to it, and a new development community began to form. But Ethereum Classic also has led to chaos and uncertainty. The forked half of the chain — sometimes dubbed “Ethereum One,” and supported by the Ethereum Foundation — is still....

The unintended consequences of the ethereum hard fork continued to mount this week as new problems became apparent due to the ongoing popularity of two competing networks. A week ago, there was one ethereum, a decentralized computing platform that’s drawn outside attention for applying the cryptocurrency concept to develop new Internet applications. But due to a schism in how people think the platform should work, there are now two ethereum networks (ethereum and ethereum classic), both of which use an almost identical history. The thinking was one blockchain 'winner' would quickly emerge....

A blockchain that was born out of the rejection of a specific technical change is on the cusp of making a decision some argue contradicts its core values. That's the situation the developers behind ethereum classic face ahead of a hard fork expected to be enacted on its blockchain on 25th October (should network participants approve the upgrade). Originally formed in reaction to a decision by the ethereum community to edit its "immutable" ledger, the fork caused an ideological schism among its enthusiasts. Alarmed by the action (or seeing a chance to profit by continuing the....

Ethereum Classic is preparing another hard fork. It was announced in statements published last week that the project’s development and mining community is committing to a change in its monetary policy by December of this year. Essentially a move to a new protocol, all current Ethereum Classic users and miners should have upgraded their software by then. If everyone does not upgrade their software, the project can split into two incompatible networks, blockchains and currencies. Of course, that is exactly how Ethereum Classic itself broke away from the Ethereum Foundation’s Ethereum last....