What is Ethereum?

Ethereum, conceived by Vitalik Buterin in late 2013, is a Decentralised platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, fraud, or third-party interference. These applications are built on a custom-built blockchain, an enormously powerful shared global infrastructure that can move value around and represent the ownership of property. The Ethereum platform enables developers to create markets, store registries of debts or promises, move funds in accordance with instructions given long in the past (like a will or a futures contract), and many other things without a middleman or counterparty risk. The currency unit within Ethereum is called Ether, used mainly for compensating participant nodes for computations performed. Initially built on a PoW(Proof of Work) consensus mechanism, Ethereum has moved to PoS (Proof of Stake) consensus mechanism since 2022, making the protocol much more green.

What can you do with Ethereum?

• Facilitating smart contracts and Decentralised applications (dApps) without intermediaries.
• Creating and executing peer-to-peer financial agreements, such as loans or derivatives.
• Establishing Decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) for collective decision-making processes.
• Allowing the creation of Decentralised Exchanges (DEXs) that can serve as AMM(Automatic Market Makers) using liquidity pools instead of traditional order books
• Tokenization of assets, enabling them to be bought, sold, or traded on a blockchain.
• Automating supply chain management processes for enhanced transparency and traceability.
• Implementing identity verification systems and Decentralised storage solutions.
• Running Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) or token sales as a means of fundraising.
• Developing Decentralised finance (DeFi) applications, providing services such as borrowing, lending, or earning interest without traditional banks.
• Enabling artists and creators to mint non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to represent ownership of unique digital items.
• Expanding gaming experiences with in-game assets and economies based on Ethereum's blockchain.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who created Ethereum?

Ethereum was conceived back in 2013 by Vitalik Buterin and other founders, though the network went live on 30 July 2015.

What are some use cases of Ethereum?

Ethereum powers smart contracts, DeFi platforms, tokenised assets, DAOs, DEXs, enabling peer-to-peer finance, and NFTs without intermediaries.

What are some other crypto assets similar to Ethereum?

Ethereum is part of the smart contract category; tokens similar to Ethereum are Solana, Avalanche, and Cardano.

How can you buy Ethereum?

Ethereum is listed on various exchanges, Centralised (like Binance, Bitget, CoinDCX) and Decentralised (like Uniswap, Pancakeswap, Sushiswap), you can also buy through Peer-to-Peer (P2P) trading.

What is Ethereum’s pectra upgrade?

Pectra upgrade is a recent upgrade on the Ethereum blockchain, with three major improvements:

• Raised the maximum validator stake limit.
• Lets regular wallets act like smart contracts, paying gas fees and other token payments using non‑ETH tokens.
• Doubles the amount of on‑chain data per block to cut Layer‑2 fees in half.

What are some top parameters to fundamentally analyse Ethereum?

The top parameters to look at while analysing Ethereum are PF ratio, NVT ratio, Chain TVL, ETF inflows, and Active addresses. ICR score takes into consideration all such important parameters, so it becomes easy for you to check if the token is of value or not.

What are Ethereum ETFs?

Ethereum ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) are financial products that track the price of Ethereum. They let investors get exposure to Ethereum without directly buying or holding the asset. These are particularly useful for people who prefer traditional investment platforms.