Everything you Need to Know About the Callisto Airdrop (Sometimes Referred to as an Ethereum Classic Fork)

There is a Callisto (CLO) airdrop planned for Ethereum Classic (ETC) holders. A snapshot will occur at block 5500000. Those who held ETC during the snapshot will get CLO coins at a 1:1 ratio during the airdrop.[1]

This page has been updated as we’ve learned more. The snapshot took place at block 5500000, the network is currently up and running.

For the official details, see this excerpt from the official Callisto.network site or see the Callisto Github. Otherwise, read our breakdown of the Callisto airdrop.

A snapshot of Ethereum Classic blockchain will be made at block 5500000 of ETC network. Each address that had ETC at its balance at the moment of block 5500000 will receive CLO in 1:1 ratio. Callisto mainnet will NOT be launched immediately after the balances snapshot. Callisto Testnet 2.0 will be launched after the snapshot of ETC balances. It is strongly recommended to withdraw ETC from exchanges for guaranteed CLO receiving. ClassicEtherWallet will support Callisto network as soon as the mainnet will be launched. Technically, every exchange will receive CLO at the moment of mainnet launch. Make sure that there are two options for exchanges: (1) support Callisto and grant to users or (2) hold it for themselves.

The bottomline on the Callisto Fork/Airdrop/whatever you want to call it: Be in Ethereum Classic (ETC) in a wallet where you control your private keys (like MyEtherWallet) before block 5500000, then you’ll have access a 1 Callisto for every ETC you had after the Callisto main network goes live. To see your token balance, you must configure your wallet to show Callisto (see below). Estimates for when block 5500000 will occur are March 2 – 5th, 2018.

Where is this information coming from? First and foremost I’m gleaning this off the Ethereum Commonwealth GitHub where the developer (Dexaran, who also did the DEX ICO) has published a roadmap of the “the Callisto Network Project” (the subject of our page) and the official site (linked to from the Github). There is also some documentation on the EthereumClassic forums and an article circulating around the internet in different forms. That article in all cases looks like Reinisfischer.com’s How to Prepare for Upcoming Callisto Airdrop (Ethereum Classic). Put that official source and unofficial sources together, add in my own insights into forks, and you have just about all the information on Callisto I’m working with. If something is inaccurate, it is likely because I am mistranslating the developer’s notes (so double check the Github and site for details).

Is this a fork or an airdrop?: After careful consideration, I’m not entirely sure how I’d describe Callisto. On one hand its a fork in essentially every respect, as balances are already associated with addresses. On the other hand, most sources (including the official Callisto site) are calling it an airdrop. Who am I to argue? The Devs say “Callisto is NOT a testnet or a hardfork of Ethereum Classic.” and the devs use the term airdrop.. thus I’ll use the term airdrop and not fork. UPDATE: The current site is pretty clear (previously I was trying to go through the GitHub and developer’s comments and such to piece together this information; however, the excerpt below from the site makes it clear). The CLO token event was an airdrop and the Callisto Network is an Ethereum side chain (which means it is a unique version of the Ethereum Classic protocol running parallel to Ethereum Classic and any Callisto updates can be integrated into Ethereum Classic Network as desired).

Callisto Network: a Blockchain technology, Cryptocurrency and Smart-Contracts Callisto Network is a blockchain platform with its own cryptocurrency (CLO) that is based on Ethereum protocol, so any Callisto improvements can be applied to Ethereum Classic. Callisto is NOT a testnet or a hardfork of Ethereum Classic. Callisto Network is developed by Ethereum Commonwealth, one of three ETC development teams.

The background: This seems to be a continuation of a project known as Ethereum Commonwealth (as noted, those looking for information on Callisto would be looking at the Ethereum Commonwealth Github; the project is called “the Callisto Network Project“).

The purpose: To make a coin that is meant as a store of value and provides an incentive to hold the coin by implementing cold staking. Cold staking is a process during which you earn interest on coins by holding them for a specific length of time. The developer is also seeking to fix a few problems related to smart contract hacking and more. Read the Callisto white paper.

The ratio: The ratio is 1:1. You get 1 Callisto for every Ethereum Classic you hold in a qualifying wallet.

How to ensure you get the airdropped coins: To get the coins from the airdrop/fork you must be in an Ethereum Classic wallet where you control your private keys (try MyEtherWallet and ClassicEtherWallet), or you must be in a platform that supports the airdrop/fork (it is hard to say which exchanges or third party wallets will support this if any). You can see a list of suggested wallets on the Callisto site. TIP: If you want to use MyEtherWallet for Ethereum classic you have to do a few steps; see: How to Send Ethereum Classic (ETC) via MyEtherWallet). Please note that third party platforms like exchanges must decide to credit users with Callisto.

How to claim your forked coins: You’ll automatically have Callisto after the fork if you were in an ETC wallet where you controlled your private keys. You will be able to claim them after the main network goes live after the snapshot (in the roadmap there is a testing period between the snapshot and the main net going live). After the airdrop, all you should have to do is configure an Ethereum Classic wallet like MyEtherWallet to show the Callisto token, you can also use one of the wallets suggested on the site which include Trust Wallet app and Guarda. See: How To Create a Custom Token in MyEtherWallet (How to Add a Token); the next section discusses this a bit more.

When will block 5500000 occur? The article noted above on Reinisfischer.com had estimated the block would occur March 5th… however my calculations show March 2nd. Let me walk you through my logic with that noted: ETC blocks are added to the blockchain very quickly (1 every 13.4 seconds as it stands now). As of writing this on mid-day PST February 19, 2018, the current block is 5419291. I don’t have an official approximate time to offer, but I can do some rough math. The rough math is: 13.4 seconds x 80,000 blocks = about a million seconds; 1 million seconds is about 278 hours… so the fork is about 11 and a half days out from today February 19, 2018; thus, late night PST March 2, 2018 is my guess. The problem with that guess is that blocks can be added faster or slower in practice, so I can only give a very rough estimate at this point. You can see the current block at gastracker.io, the closer we get to the block, the easier it will be to approximate the time of the snapshot.

What exchanges will Callisto trade on? The site says they have reached out to Yobit.net, ChangeNow, and HitBTC. So hopefully these exchanges and more!

When is the airdrop?: The “airdrop” AKA “when you can access your Callisto” is when the mainnet goes live, after testing, after the snapshot. No way to offer an exact timing for that. Will keep you updated.

What is a fork? A fork is when developers copy and paste the code of a coin and start a new chain. Generally the reason this is done is because developers want to take the software in a different direction, thus it isn’t a pure copy paste, but often includes a new collection of protocols and some tweaks to the code as well. Sometimes this is done because there is a lack of consensus, like with Bitcoin Cash. Sometimes developers just want to create a useful and alternative product or alternative version of the existing product, like with Callisto.

What is an airdrop? With Ethereum, smart contracts can distribute tokens. In simple terms, when conditions have been met the contract will associate tokens with addresses (the “airdrop”). Then, assuming you have the keys to that address, you can access the tokens at any point after that. All Ethereum-based ICOs use this method for distribution. To see the balance of a token associated with a wallet you must “add the token.” To add the token, you need the contract address, symbol, and decimal. Callisto is essentially a fork in many respects, but logically you are going to need to add the Callisto token like you would with an ICO where the token was “airdropped.” This is the only part I’m still unclear on from the Callisto documentation.

TIP: Any fork or airdrop can end up being real or not. We usually assume it is real if it has a Github. Thus, we tend to assume Callisto is real, but we should remember this is a sort of clever ICO and not an official fork.

For more reading, check out this article by rados.io.