A Victorious Rebellion? Microsoft Investigates Ethereum Classic’s Potential

Since Ethereum decided to hard fork because of the DAO incident, the network has been in limbo, the community finding itself the center of continuous controversy. The fork caused a split in the blockchain, creating a new cryptocurrency called Ethereum Classic — in turn spawning opposing community factions. Recently, Microsoft executives have met with early Ethereum founder Charles Hoskinson to discuss the merits of the Classic new network, sure to be a slap in the face for the “new” Ethereum.  

Also read: Small Ethereum Clones Getting Attacked by Mysterious ’51 Crew’

Microsoft Discusses ETC With Charles Hoskinson

While many people have called the “unofficial” Ethereum Classic a scam, the project has gained significant support.

Ethereum developers, such as Vitalik Buterin, refused to technically support the project. However, the community has managed to find its own development team and people who support the protocol. Early Ethereum founders such as Anthony Di Iorio and Charles Hoskinson have said they had no problem with this blockchain. Hoskinson has gone as far as helping the project and recently met with Microsoft concerning the tokens efforts.

The event took place last week in London and was organized by Microsoft’s headquarters in Paddington. Hoskinson took the stage and explained to attendees what his company was doing to further Ethereum Classic’s potential. ETC supporters are looking to gain the same attention Ethereum has by highlighting its focus on immutability. Yet some have criticized the project and have claimed third party application developers won’t build using the protocol.

Chinese Investor Will Fund Ethereum Classic dApps

However, an angel investor from China, Chandler Guo, has recently expressed a desire to invest in third party dApps. “I want to invest in 100 dApp ICO’s on ETC in 3 years,” Guo wrote on Twitter, “please add my wechat ID and send BP to me.”  

The chinese investor and miner showed opposition to the project at first. When Classic came out, Guo said he would direct his mining efforts at creating a 51 percent attack on the currency’s network. Since then, he has changed his opinion on ETC, becoming a strong proponent.

A Natural Forming Market and Threats of 51 Percent Attacks

The threat of a 51 percent attack against Ethereum Classic has been real. Early on, Ethereum community members threatened to attack the ETC network’s smaller hashrate. Then, this September, Ethereum clones with very little hashrates were attacked by the mysterious ’51 Crew.’ Some people speculated that the attacks were just a test run, and that the group aimed to take down ETC.

Ethereum Classic is not like other Ether clones in existence. It wasn’t specifically designed to happen, and it never had an Initial Coin Offering (ICO). Instead, it came from a hard fork and the market and its value seemed to form naturally. With Microsoft now looking into the network’s potential, ETC could still have a long life ahead.

The token’s market has seen better days though, once reaching a couple of dollars per ETC shortly after its birth. At press time, the cryptocurrency is a little over $1 USD per ETC but still holds the title of 6th highest coin per capitalization.

What do you think about the outcome of Ethereum’s chain split? Do you think ETC will get any legitimate development? Let us know in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Pixabay, and Ethereum Classic.

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