Ethereum

Ethereum is an open-source software that utilises blockchain technology to facilitate smart contracts and the trading of cryptocurrencies securely without the need of a third party such as the government or a bank. It creates and shares business, financial services, and entertainment applications. Ethereum has its own associated cryptocurrency, that can often be referred to as Ether or ETH. When using Ethereum, users pay fees to use certain decentralised applications (dApps). “Gas fees” or “gas” is what the fees are called, due to the varying amount of computational power required. It has a wide range of functions including being a currency, producing smart contracts, digital or decentralised apps, non-fungible tokens (NFT) and decentralised finance. 

When launched in 2015, Ethereum became the very first project to expand the use cases of blockchains by introducing unique technologies that allowed people to create their own digital tokens and self-sustaining, autonomous applications. The Ethereum website itself exclaims – ‘it’s the world’s programmable blockchain…Ethereum builds on Bitcoin’s innovation, with some big differences. Both let you use digital money without payment providers or banks. But Ethereum is programmable, so you can also use it for lots of different digital assets – even Bitcoin! This also means Ethereum is for more than payments. It’s a marketplace of financial services, games and apps that can’t steal your data or censor you’.