TIL about the DAO Hack that started the Ethereum hard fork, and gave birth to ETC (Ethereum Classic). With the quick thinking of the DAO & Ethereum community the chain was forked, and ETH has managed to flourish.

TIL about the "DAO Hack" and the Ethereum hard fork, a pivotal event that led to the split of the Ethereum blockchain into two separate chains: Ethereum (ETH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC).

In 2016, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) was created on the Ethereum platform. The DAO was a smart contract-based investment style fund that allowed Ethereum users to pool their funds and vote on projects to fund within the Ethereum ecosystem. It quickly gained significant popularity and attracted a substantial amount of Ether (ETH).

However, a vulnerability in the DAO's code was exploited by an attacker, who managed to drain a substantial portion of the DAO's funds, worth millions of dollars in ETH. This event caused panic within the Ethereum community and raised concerns about the security and immutability of smart contracts on the blockchain.

In response to the attack and to mitigate the damage, the Ethereum community proposed a controversial solution: a hard fork. The hard fork would effectively reverse the effects of the DAO hack by creating a new version of the Ethereum blockchain in which the stolen funds would be returned to their rightful owners.

This decision led to a schism in the Ethereum community. Some believed that the hard fork was necessary to rectify the situation and protect the integrity of the platform, while others argued that it violated the principles of blockchain immutability and set a dangerous precedent.

Ultimately, the hard fork was implemented, resulting in two separate blockchains:

1. Ethereum (ETH): The majority of the community and developers supported the hard fork, and it became the dominant Ethereum blockchain. The stolen DAO funds were returned, and the network continued to evolve.

2. Ethereum Classic (ETC): A minority of the community rejected the hard fork and continued to use the original Ethereum blockchain, which became known as Ethereum Classic. ETC adheres to the principle of immutability and does not support reversing the effects of the DAO hack.

Without the quick thinking of the community, I highly doubt ETH would have survived.