Vitalik Buterin believes that Ethereum Classic can be merged into Ethereum 2.0 in the same way as a new shard-like ETH’s current Proof of Work (PoW) chain will be integrated.
Ethereum Classic (ETC) has had an exciting start of the year. ETC price has climbed and the token briefly made it to the top ten coins recently. At the time, the leaderboard was dominated by three bitcoins and two eths for several hours.
This copy clone of Ethereum can be merged into Ethereum 2.0 in the same way as a new shard-like eth’s current Proof of Work (PoW) chain will be integrated. Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, publicly said that it is technically very possible. He added:
“You can just use the same merger process to import the Ethereum Classic state that is planned for ETH. Then, the ETC execution environment code would enforce a different exchange rate vs beacon chain eth, based on the rate at the time of the merger (or some other pre-agreed formula). This is if you want to re-merge the currencies.”
Barry Silbert, the Coindesk owner and Blockstream backer, created ETC in 2016. But, the bear market made many developers give up because of little interest four years later. Some other developers are now taking over, with ETC gradually positioning itself as the conservative option for those not satisfied with Ethereum.
Future of ETC
ETC’s future is not clear since back in 2016, there were not many dApps existing. Also, the network has not kept up with the flourishing innovation in ETH in the Defi sector and much else.
The current Proof of Work (PoW) chain might be kept operational for whatever reason after ETH transitions to Proof of Stake (PoS). Thus, it would probably render ETC obsolete since it is the only ‘reasonable’ long term value proposition is the constant maintenance of PoW.
With the current ETH PoW that is soon transitioning to PoS, having another ETH ETC is a bit too much. Hence, ETC holders may like it very much if it gets merged since, as said by Buterin, they would get the ETH on the PoS chain proportional to the value of one ETC.
For example, if ETC is $1 and ETH is $10, they would get 0.1 ETH. Also, their whole network would be ported, which would make it acquisition of some sort.
What Happens Next?
Although that is a great idea, it is up to the communities to decide whether they want it or not. On the brighter side, it is possible to get rid of the coin, but probably not as it might continue with its regular operations. In the scenario that it ceases to be operational, then possibly any value that may have gone to ETC could go to ETH.
On the flip side, it would result in the printing of a lot of ETH (circa 5% of supply) to accommodate all these additions. That will seem quite controversial although nobody will be compelled to pay them. ETH can copy clone their blockchain and pay nothing because their blockchain is open source.
ETH can, in a similar manner, copy EOS, Tron, Cardano, or any other blockchain after it unveils its smart contracts. They can use the dApps on these networks as skeletons for a new shard instead of kicking off as a blanket slate. But since they do not have any dApp that stands out, the developers would be mostly copying casinos. Copying casinos appears somewhat pointless.
On the contrary, the secondary blockchain is at imminent risk of being consumed by the primary chain. It can be merged, copied, or in the case of bitcoin, increasing the block size or capacity. Moreover, the technical aspects of hash power-sharing make the secondary chain highly insecure. That is a case familiar with ETC, which was 51% attacked in 2019.
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