What is Ethereum?

Launched in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin and a team of co-founders, Ethereum introduced groundbreaking innovations that expanded the possibilities of blockchain technology beyond simple financial transactions, as seen in bitcoin .

Ethereum's native cryptocurrency Ether ETH), can be used to pay for transactions, deploy smart contacts , and compensate participants (miners or validators) who maintain the network.

Ethereum is open source peer-to-peer network and its source code can be found in github.

Ethereum created the ability to create self-executing contracts with predefined rules (smart contacts). These contracts automatically execute transactions when specific conditions are met, enabling trustless and automated operations across various industries.

Ethereum allows anyone to deploy decentralized applications (DApp). An example of a DApp is a smart contact . Other examples are decentralized finance applications (DeFi) which can provide new financial instruments and also a different way to access traditional ones, without using financial intermediaries like brokerages, exchanges, or banks. This facilitates borrowing against cryptocurrency holdings or lending them out for interest. Ethereum also allows users to create and exchange Non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Ethereum, at the date of writing this blog, is the second biggest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of over $400,000,000,000 ($400 billions).

Ethereum revolutionized blockchain technology by enabling smart contacts and decentralized applications, becoming the backbone of the decentralized web. While it faces challenges like scalability and competition, Ethereum remains a vital player in the cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem, driving innovation across industries.