Ethereum Classic is getting an ‘upgrade’ soon which will allow for it to better integrate itself into Ethereum’s main chain. With cross-chain communication expected, the blockchain will also be adopting Ethereum’s Byzantium network protocol upgrades.

However, some in the Ethereum community view the fork as opportunistic and claim that Ethereum Classic is merely riding off of Ethereum’s success without making any contributions whatsoever.

Ethereum developer Péter Szilágyi recently got into a spat with Bob Summerwill, Executive Director of the ETC Cooperative, over what the real purpose of the classic chain really is. Proponents of Ethereum Classic are steadfast that ‘code is law’ and therefore believe that they are staying true to Ethereum’s founding documents. However, with the coming hard fork, it seems that Ethereum Classic is now looking to jump in on Ethereum’s recent upgrades while also positioning itself as ‘original’ proof-of-work chain as Ethereum transitions to proof-of-stake.

As Szilágyi puts it, ETC cannot live without Ethereum. He claims that those pushing for Ethereum to ‘die’ should also realize that they are, in effect, also wishing for Ethereum Classic to die as well. “If you expect ETH 1 to die but ETC to live, you are IMHO pushing an agenda,” he writes.

ETC is the living proof that there will always be someone who wants to keep a chain alive.

However if ETC lives, so will with ETH 1. If you expect ETH 1 to die, you must also expect ETC to die.

If you expect ETH 1 to die but ETC to live, you are IMHO pushing an agenda.

— Péter Szilágyi (@peter_szilagyi) September 10, 2019

Bob Summerwill responded by claiming that the ‘technical challenges’ experienced by both chains are ‘nearly identical,’ and that collaboration could prove fruitful from a technological standpoint. However, Szilágyi took offense to the insinuation that Ethereum Classic was doing anything at all.

Why is it that everyone wants ETH to collaborate? ETC has been alive for 3 years, took everything we did, gave nothing back, but somehow we are expected to “collaborate”.

You can buy your redemption. Throwing money at someone is not collaboration.

— Péter Szilágyi (@peter_szilagyi) September 10, 2019

The gulf between ETC and Ethereum has existed for some time, with the latter claiming that the former seldom contributes to much of anything. Since ‘code is law,’ ETC upgrades have been riding off of Ethereum’s progress solely. Although there are talks of decentralized applications on Ethereum Classic, it remains to be seen why any developer would take this route given that Ethereum proper exists.

We can likely expect this controversy to continue well after the hard fork. It’s then that Ethereum Classic’s goals will be put to the test, with many people wondering whether it will continue to sit as a high market cap ‘novelty coin’ instead of a cryptocurrency with an actual function.

Do you believe Ethereum Classic has any use-cases? Let us know your thoughts below in the comments. 

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