Ethereum Classic (ETC) and Ethereum (ETH): a comparison
Ethereum Classic and Ethereum set side by side: how the quotes moved, how the protocols are built and what tasks each one was made for.
Specifications of ETC and ETH
| Ethereum Classic (ETC) | Ethereum (ETH) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.84 | $2,118.59 |
| Ticker | ETC | ETH |
| Type | coin of its own network | coin of its own network |
| Launched | 2015 | 2015 |
| Consensus | Proof of Work (Etchash) | Proof of Stake |
| Privacy | transfers are public | transfers are public |
| In circulation | 158.98 M ETC | 122.21 M ETH |
| Market cap | $1.09 B | $258.91 B |
| Rank by cap | #70 | #2 |
| Built by | — | Vitalik Buterin |
| Block | — | ~12 sec |
| Supply cap | — | no cap |
Source: CoinGecko, Nov 10, 2026 12:57. How these numbers are counted
Price movement: ETC and ETH
The start of the period is taken as 100 for both prices: the chart shows the difference in movement, not the quotes themselves.
| Period | ETC | ETH |
|---|---|---|
| 7 days | −2.12% | −5.29% |
| 30 days | −19.1% | −14.9% |
| 90 days | +6.69% | +13.34% |
The link between their daily moves over the quarter is 0.78 (they travel together).
The tasks ETC and ETH were made for
- Contracts and applicationsEthereum Classic and Ethereum
How Ethereum Classic and Ethereum are built
How Ethereum Classic works
ETC rests on Proof of Work with the Etchash algorithm and on a strict monetary policy: every 5 million blocks the reward drops by 20%, which sets a limit on the total supply. The smart contracts here are the same as in Ethereum.
What Ethereum Classic is for
ETC is taken for payments and smart contracts, and also by miners who care about a Proof of Work chain.
How Ethereum works
In the autumn of 2022 the network moved from mining to Proof of Stake: blocks are proposed and confirmed by validators who have locked up ETH, and a new slot opens every 12 seconds. Contract code is executed by the EVM virtual machine. Part of the fee on every transaction is destroyed, so the final supply of the coin depends on how actively the network is used.
What Ethereum is for
ETH is needed to pay for gas, is posted as collateral in DeFi, takes part in staking and serves as the unit of account of the ecosystem. Layer-2 networks — Arbitrum, Optimism and others — also charge their fees in ETH, so the coin serves a sizeable part of the crypto market.