Ethereum (ETH)

Unlike Bitcoin, which is primarily structured as a peer-to-peer monetary system, Ethereum functions as a general-purpose settlement and computing layer. Developers use it to create decentralized finance protocols, NFT marketplaces, stablecoins, tokenized assets, gaming applications, and other services that execute automatically through smart contracts. These contracts run on the Ethereum Virtual Machine and are commonly written in Solidity, a programming language closely associated with the network’s early development.

Ethereum was proposed by Vitalik Buterin in 2013 and launched in 2015 with contributions from a broader founding team that included Gavin Wood and Joseph Lubin. It has since become one of the most widely used blockchain ecosystems, supported by a large developer community and thousands of independent validators.

A major turning point came in 2022, when Ethereum completed “The Merge” and moved from proof of work to proof of stake. The change sharply reduced the network’s energy use and made validator staking central to block production and security. Earlier, the EIP-1559 fee reform introduced a mechanism that burns a portion of ETH paid in transaction fees, linking network activity to ether’s supply dynamics.

ETH also plays an important role in decentralized finance as collateral and liquidity, and it has gained institutional access through regulated investment products, including spot Ethereum ETFs approved in the United States in 2024. Ethereum’s ongoing roadmap focuses on scaling capacity, lowering costs, and preserving decentralization as usage grows.