But some, like yourself, decide to dive a little deeper, and they discover some interesting facts that debunk that initial skepticism. Their journey down the rabbit hole begins when they find out that Ethereum Classic is not a clone of Ethereum™, but a continuation of the original Ethereum launched in 2015, which The Ethereum Foundation forked away from by launching a new protocol one year later in 2016. Applications on Ethereum Classic have been operating uninterrupted for a year longer than on Ethereum™, making ETC the longest running and most reliable Smart Contract Platform. More importantly, Ethereum Classic has never and will never stop or interfere with Smart Contracts deployed to it, as unstoppability is what makes blockchains useful and valuable.
Source: ethereumclassic.org