ETC Cooperative
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About

Mission of the ETC Cooperative

The mission of the ETC Cooperative is to steward the development of the Ethereum Classic protocol and to support the growth of a mature ecosystem around that protocol. There are three pillars to this mission:

  • Accelerate adoption of ETC technology by individuals and enterprises through effective branding, marketing and education.
  • Foster collaboration between ecosystem participants including developers, miners, investors, enterprises and end-users.
  • Mature governance and transparency – efficient and transparent governance framework, including use of funds.

History of the ETC Cooperative

The Ethereum Classic Cooperative Inc (“ETC Coop”) was incorporated in the State of Delaware as an LLC on 7th September 2017. The legal entity was incorporated with the explicitly stated goal of conversion to a non-profit entity in support of the ETC ecosystem. That application was filed with the IRS on 10th May 2018. The ETC Coop was granted 501(c)(3) public charity status on 14th November 2018, retroactive to the date of filing.

Donations to ETC Coop are tax deductible under IRC Section 170 for US taxpayers, both individual and corporate. Enterprises investing in infrastructure or other “public goods” within the ETC ecosystem can do so in a more tax-efficient manner by donating to the ETC Coop rather than investing directly. Private foundations often fulfill a similar function in other ICO-funded cryptocurrency projects, along with holding ICO funds, trademarks, driving roadmap and other centralized functions.

In that sense, ETC is quite unique (along with Bitcoin) in having none of those centralizing functions. There is no ETC Foundation (very intentionally). There was no ICO for ETC. The abandoned chain we now call ETC was picked up and kept alive by volunteers following the DAO Fork.

Just over a year later the ETC Coop was formed, to provide some much needed (but non-exclusive) funding and support for the ETC ecosystem. There is nothing “official” in ETC, including the role of the ETC Coop within the ecosystem. The ETC Coop and its staff have no special influence within ETC other than whatever respect our actions have earned. Earning that respect is a “forever process”. Any other group of individuals or other legal entity could displace the ETC Coop tomorrow if we cease to be good citizens.

About Ethereum Classic

Learn about Ethereum Classic at the ethereumclassic.org website.