Share this article

A new core team of developers has officially announced their participation in the development of the Ethereum Classic (ETC) blockchain.

Known as ETC Labs Core, the team of six developers, many of whom had previously been at ETCDev, will provide key technical expertise for the blockchain and continue developing the network’s dApp ecosystem. An official blog post said the team was committed to the same core principles and values as Ethereum Classic.

“The team will be focused on core Ethereum Classic projects, supporting the ETC blockchain, providing tooling for decentralized application development, mining, and services”, ETC Labs Core said in an announcement. “In pursuit of our mission, we value state immutability, decentralization, and backward compatibility.”

Few blockchains have any centralized authority, and there is no singular body directing expansion in Ethereum Classic. The blockchain’s development, both technically and on the community side too, is shared between separate private companies.

ETC Labs Core

Up until early December, there were four of these teams. ETC Cooperative and ETC Labs – of which ETC Labs Core is a subsidiary – promoted dApp and community development through investments and technical support; ETC Dev and IOHK acted as two core-team developer bodies for the blockchain itself.

But on December 3rd, ETC Dev closed its doors; the company had run out of money. The dissolution was anything but harmonious. The head of ETC Dev claimed that ETC Labs had performed a hostile takeover, poaching members of staff and withholding much-needed funds to force the company out. This was, unsurprisingly, disputed by ETC Labs, who claimed they had had very little involvement in the management of ETC Dev.

2018 had generally been a very successful year for Ethereum Classic. A surprise Coinbase listing in June brought much-needed attention to the blockchain and attracted developers to begin building on its platform. Anthony Lusardi, Director of ETC Cooperative, said the project felt “vindicated”.

But the ETC Dev closure was just the beginning of a series of issues. Just last week the project was subject to a “re-org”, an attempt to quickly rewrite the blockchain and double-spend the cash; Coinbase suspended trading. As evidenced by the drop in value, investors have started to move away.

The creation of a new core development team will help restore confidence lost in the last few months. That said, there’s still plenty of work to be done over at Ethereum Classic.

The author is invested in digital assets, including BTC which is mentioned in this article.

Join the conversation on Telegram and Twitter