The Blockchain Created By Ethereum's Fork is Forking Now

That's the situation the developers behind ethereum classic face ahead of a hard fork expected to be enacted on its blockchain on 25th October.

Originally formed in reaction to a decision by the ethereum community to edit its "Immutable" ledger, the fork caused an ideological schism among its enthusiasts.

Other investors then bought into the vision, and today, there are currently 85m classic ethers worth $87m. What perhaps wasn't foreseen was that ethereum classic would face a situation where it would soon need to enact an unplanned hard fork.

Following a series of attacks that have targeted ethereum over the past month, ethereum classic has realized it is also vulnerable given its use of nearly identical technology.

Cornell computer scientist Emin Gün Sirer, for example, argued that by ethereum classic's reasoning, its new hard fork would compromise its immutability, or the idea that a transaction history should be final and not subject to revisions.

A small group has even said that they will stay on the old ethereum classic blockchain if the fork occurs, with possible names including "Ethereum Classic Unlimited," "Ethereum Classic Uncensored" or "Ethereum Classic Classic".

Others are less committed to a blockchain that never changes, arguing that ethereum classic should have voted on the decision.

Reddit user gobriangao, who has supervised two ethereum classic public surveys, argued that it sets a precedent for ethereum classic decision-making.

Gobriangao argued that ethereum classic needs to establish a governance system that sets the new blockchain apart from ethereum.

The comments suggest ethereum classic will continue to try to differentiate itself from the second most popular blockchain from which it spawned, but the event itself highlights how disagreement about technical terms continues to divide blockchain communities.