Buy Ethereum Classic (ETC)

Where can I buy Ethereum Classic?

You can buy Ethereum Classic at various European exchanges from as little as € 5. The exchanges we list all hold a MiCA authorisation. Since 30 December 2024 the MiCA regulation applies across the European Union, and national transition arrangements for previously registered firms ended in the course of 2025, so a national registration alone is no longer enough. You pay by credit card, SEPA bank transfer or Wero.

The Ethereum Classic price and volatility

Investing in cryptocurrency is risky and the value can rise or fall. The chart below gives an impression of how the ETC price has moved over time. Invest no more than you can afford to lose. An authorisation of the exchange says something about supervision, not about that price risk.

What is Ethereum Classic?

Ethereum Classic is an open source blockchain that supports smart contracts. Like Ethereum it runs on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), and the coin is traded under the symbol ETC. A core principle of Ethereum Classic is the idea that the chain should be untouchable: transactions once recorded are not reversed, summed up as “code is law”.

The project came out of a disagreement in the Ethereum community. In May 2016 an investment fund called The DAO, built on Ethereum, raised a large amount of Ether. A flaw in the DAO’s code let an attacker siphon off about 3.6 million Ether in June 2016. The community voted in July 2016 to roll the chain back so affected participants got their Ether back. Some did not agree and carried on with the old, non-reversed chain, which lives on as Ethereum Classic; the reversed chain is the Ethereum we know today.

Ethereum Classic after The Merge

Where Ethereum switched to Proof of Stake in September 2022, Ethereum Classic deliberately stayed a Proof of Work network. That made ETC an important home for miners who kept mining with graphics cards. Unlike Ethereum’s open model, Ethereum Classic has a fixed ceiling: the total supply is capped at roughly 210.7 million ETC, with rewards that step down after a set number of blocks.

It is fair to mention that Ethereum Classic has known vulnerabilities. In 2019 and again in 2020 the network was hit by so-called 51 percent attacks, in which a party temporarily held the majority of the computing power and could rewrite parts of the chain, double-spending amounts in the process. Developers then took measures to protect the network better. It shows that a smaller Proof of Work network is more exposed to this kind of attack than a large one like Bitcoin.

Storing Ethereum Classic in a wallet

After your purchase, your ETC sits in the exchange wallet, which controls the keys. For larger amounts or longer-term storage, a wallet of your own is safer. You can use:

• Exchange wallet: ready at the exchange and easy, yet the keys stay with the exchange
• Software wallet: MetaMask, where you add the Ethereum Classic network
• Hardware wallet: a device such as a Ledger or Trezor that keeps your keys offline Make sure you use a genuine Ethereum Classic address and do not confuse it with regular Ethereum, as they are different networks.

With a wallet of your own you get a recovery phrase; whoever has those words has access to your ETC, so keep it offline, never share it and never take a photo of it. If you lose the recovery phrase, your Ethereum Classic cannot be recovered.

How do I choose an exchange to buy Ethereum Classic?

All platforms give the same ETC, so the difference is down to the terms:

• How steep the trading fees and spread turn out
• Which agency granted the MiCA authorisation
• Whether ETC is offered
• How fast delivery is after payment
• Whether it provides an app and assistance in your language
• Which methods of payment are supported (credit card, SEPA bank transfer or Wero)

At all listed exchanges a KYC check is mandatory. The Ethereum Classic price can move sharply, and an authorisation does not change that. Decide for yourself how much you can afford to lose.