Ethereum Classic is the original protocol of Ethereum. As a result of the massive hack on the Ethereum-based DAO, in which around 14% of all ETH in circulation were stolen, a hard fork was proposed to return the stolen funds to their owners. This caused an ideological split revolving around the question of changing previous transactions in the blockchain. Some Ethereum holders rejected the hard fork, and decided to keep using the original protocol, based on the principle that the blockchain is immutable, and cannot be changed.

NEM is a cryptocurrency and blockchain platform that allows multiple ledgers on the same blockchain. NEM Smart Assets are used to create mosaics for any asset. Transaction fees are paid with NEM's native currency, XEM. NEM originally began as a community-oriented cryptocurrency that was built from the ground up in the Java programming language.
NEM's goal is to achieve widespread distribution through improved scale and speed. It pioneered several blockchain features such as its proof-of-importance (POI) consensus algorithm, encrypted messaging, a unique reputation system, and multi-signature accounts.
NEM is also developing a commercial blocckahin called Mijin, that is currently being tested by several companies and financial institutions.
In early 2018, approximately $400 million worth of XEM were stolen from a Japanese exchange called Coincheck, that was the victim of huge hack. The exchange failed to implement proper security for this coin protocol, and the hackers only stole XEM coins as a result. Instead of creating a fork to deal with this issue, NEM set up an automated tagging system that flagged these funds. NEM then stopped tracking these stolen coins