Ethereum Classic has no single founder — it originated collectively. When the Ethereum network hard-forked in July 2016 at block 1,920,000 to reverse the DAO hack, a portion of the community chose to remain on the original unmodified chain, calling it Ethereum Classic. Vitalik Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation led the forked chain, while ETC supporters maintained the unaltered ledger. Its founding principle is immutability and resistance to centralized intervention.