Ethereum (ETH)
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About Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum (ETH) is the world's leading smart contract platform, launched in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin and a team of co-founders. Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum was designed as a programmable blockchain — a global computer that can execute self-enforcing code called smart contracts.
The Ethereum ecosystem is home to thousands of decentralized applications (dApps), including DeFi protocols, NFT marketplaces, DAOs, and Web3 games. The network processes millions of transactions daily and hosts hundreds of billions in total value locked (TVL) across DeFi protocols.
Ethereum underwent a monumental upgrade in September 2022 called "The Merge," transitioning from energy-intensive Proof of Work to an eco-friendly Proof of Stake consensus mechanism. This reduced Ethereum's energy consumption by approximately 99.95% and introduced staking rewards for validators.
The EIP-1559 upgrade introduced a base fee burning mechanism, making ETH deflationary during periods of high network activity. Combined with staking, Ethereum's supply dynamics have fundamentally changed, often resulting in net negative issuance.
Ethereum's Layer 2 scaling ecosystem — including Arbitrum, Optimism, and zkSync — has dramatically improved transaction speeds and reduced costs while inheriting Ethereum's security. ETH is used to pay gas fees across the entire ecosystem, giving it deep intrinsic utility.