Ethereum vs 
Ethereum Classic
The same chain until 2016. When a hack drained the DAO, most of the community chose to reverse it; a minority refused on the principle that an immutable ledger must stay immutable even when the outcome is ugly. That minority chain is Ethereum Classic, still proof-of-work and largely static. Ethereum took the developers, the applications and the value — but the split remains crypto's sharpest test of what immutability is actually worth.
12 months, both starting at 100 (AUD)
ETH → 55 · ETC → 39| Measure | ETH | ETC |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | A$466.8B | A$2.0B |
| Rank | #2 | #68 |
| Price | A$3,821.13 | A$12.43 |
| 90-day change (AUD) | +62.0% | +22.4% |
| 12-month change (AUD) | −40.3% | −55.9% |
| From all-time high | −50.0% | −94.2% |
| Supply model | No fixed maximum | Capped: 210.7M max |
| AU exchanges we verify it on | 5 | 3 |
About Ethereum
Ethereum, launched in 2015, introduced smart contracts — programs that run on the blockchain itself — and became the foundation for most of crypto's applications, from stablecoins to DeFi and NFTs. Its coin, ether, pays for computation on the network and can be staked to help secure it.
About Ethereum Classic
Ethereum Classic is the original Ethereum chain that continued unaltered after the 2016 DAO hack prompted Ethereum's community to fork. It keeps proof-of-work mining and Ethereum's early code philosophy, at a fraction of the scale.
FAQ
Which is bigger, Ethereum or Ethereum Classic?
By market value today: Ethereum (A$466.8B vs A$2.0B). Size measures money invested, not quality — but it does measure liquidity, which affects how easily you can buy and sell.
Which performed better this year?
Over the past 12 months in AUD terms: ETH −40.3%, ETC −55.9% — the chart above shows the whole path, which matters more than the endpoints. Past performance is no indicator of future results, in either direction.
Can I buy both in Australia?
Yes — both are listed on AUSTRAC-registered exchanges we verify. ETH appears on 5 of our reviewed platforms and ETC on 3. Compare costs first on the fee calculator, and remember every crypto-to-crypto swap between them is a CGT event.
Should I hold ETH or ETC?
That's a personal decision we don't make for you — this page exists to make the structural differences clear so the choice is yours. What we'd say to anyone: understand what job each coin is designed for, size positions like the risk is real, and check the honest failure statistics before going further down the market-cap list.
Data from our market records (powered by CoinGecko), refreshed with the daily rebuild. General information only, not financial advice — we compare structure and history, we don't pick winners.