Ethereum Classic (ETC) is the continuation of the original Ethereum blockchain following the 2016 DAO hack, when the community chose to hard fork and reverse the hack on the new chain (now Ethereum). ETC adheres strictly to the 'code is law' philosophy, preserving immutability and operating as a decentralized computing platform with smart contract support on a proof-of-work network. It maintains a fixed supply cap and focuses on security, censorship resistance, and enterprise use cases.