Ethereum
Ethereum
Short overview of Ethereum
Ethereum was initially released on July 30, 2015 and first traded on August 7 for $2.77
The official Ethereum website defines it as a technology that lets you send cryptocurrency to anyone for a small fee. It also powers applications that everyone can use and no one can take down.
Ether itself is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Amongst cryptocurrencies, Ether is second only to Bitcoin in market capitalization
What exactly are Ethereum and Ether?
Ethereum is a blockchain platform with its own cryptocurrency, called Ether (ETH) or Ethereum, and its own programming language, called Solidity.
As a blockchain network, Ethereum is a decentralized public ledger for verifying and recording transactions. The network's users can create, publish, monetize, and use applications on the platform, and use its Ether cryptocurrency as payment. Insiders call the decentralized applications on the network "dApps."
The difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin
Even though bitcoin and ethereum are both digital cryptocurrencies that are traded with online exchanges, the biggest difference between these two currencies is that bitcoin was created as an alternative to national currencies, whereas ethereum was designed to be much more than a payment system. It is “a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or third-party interference.
Still, because of the different goals, these two currencies can coexist. While bitcoin provides fast and secure transactions, ethereum focuses on running the programming code of a range of decentralized applications and much more.
Ethereum mining
Ethereum’s website defines Mining as the process of creating a block of transactions to be added to the Ethereum blockchain.
Ethereum, like Bitcoin, currently uses a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism. Mining is the lifeblood of proof-of-work. Ethereum miners - computers running software - using their time and computation power to process transactions and produce blocks.
Who can become a miner?
Technically, anyone can mine on the Ethereum network using their computer. However, not everyone can mine ether (ETH) profitably. In most cases, miners must purchase dedicated computer hardware to mine profitably. While it is true anyone can run the mining software on their computer, it is unlikely that the average computer would earn enough block rewards to cover the associated costs of mining
Ethereum 2.0
Ethereum 2.0 will be an improved version of ethereum 1.0. The biggest improvements involve safer transactions, more scalability, and more sustainability.