Ethereum (ETH) - Information, Price, News and More

If you would like to buy Ethereum, some of the suggested exchanges for trading Ethereum are: Binance (not for USA), KuCoin, Huobi Global and Poloniex among others.

Latest Ethereum News, Post and Articles:

What is Ethereum (ETH)?

Ethereum is a decentralized open-source blockchain with a native token called Ether. ETH works as a platform for numerous other cryptocurrencies, and was developed primarily to support execution and creation of decentralized applications and 'smart contracts' through its virtual machine (Ethereum virtual machine, or EVM for short, is a blockchain-based software platform), and various related projects.

Ethereum was first described in a 2013 whitepaper by Vitalik Buterin. Buterin, along with other co-founders, secured funding for the project in an online public crowd sale in the summer of 2014 and officially launched the blockchain on July 30, 2015.

Ethereum’s goal is to become a global platform for decentralized applications, allowing users from all over the world to write and run software that is resistant to censorship, downtime, fraud and one-sided manipulation of the data it stores.

Who Are the Founders of Ethereum?

Ethereum has a total of eight co-founders — an unusually large number for a crypto project. They first met on June 7, 2014, in Zug, Switzerland.

• Vitalik Buterin, Russian-Canadian programmer and the face of Ethereum, is the most known of the bunch. He authored the original white paper that described Ethereum in 2013 and is still integral part of the project, improving the platform to this day. His crypto experience extends further back, as before co-founding ETH, Buterin co-founded and wrote for the Bitcoin Magazine news website.
• Gavin Wood, a British programmer, is arguably the second most important co-founder of ETH, as he coded the first technical implementation of Ethereum in the C++, proposed Ethereum’s native programming language Solidity and was the first chief technology officer of the Ethereum Foundation. He is no longer part of The Ethereum Foundation, but remained a major contributor to the community. Before Ethereum, Wood was a research scientist at Microsoft. Afterward, he moved on to establish the Web3 Foundation.

Other co-founders of Ethereum are: - Anthony Di Iorio, who underwrote the project during its early stage of development. - Charles Hoskinson, now founder of Cardano (ADA), who played the principal role in establishing the Swiss-based Ethereum Foundation and its legal framework. - Mihai Alisie, who provided assistance in establishing the Ethereum Foundation. - Joseph Lubin, a Canadian entrepreneur, who, like Di Iorio, has helped fund Ethereum during its early days, and later founded an incubator for startups based on ETH called ConsenSys. - Amir Chetrit, who helped co-found Ethereum but stepped away from it early into the development.

What Makes Ethereum Unique?

Smart Contracts

Ethereum’s principal innovation was designing a platform that allowed it to execute smart contracts using the blockchain. Ethereum’s blockchain was designed, according to co-founder Gavin Wood, as a sort of “one computer for the entire planet,” theoretically able to make any program more robust, censorship-resistant and less prone to fraud by running it on a globally distributed network of public nodes.

In comparison to Bitcoin (BTC), whose main use is that of a store of value and monetary exchange, the ‘Ethereum Virtual Machine’ is capable of running smart contracts that can represent financial agreements such as options contracts, swaps or coupon-paying bonds. It can also be used to execute bets and wagers, to fulfill employment contracts, to act as a trusted escrow for the purchase of high-value items, and to maintain a legitimate decentralized gambling facility. These are just a few examples of what is possible with smart contracts, and the potential to replace all sorts of legal, financial and social agreements is exciting.

Platform for Other ERC-20 Cryptocurrencies

In addition to smart contracts, Ethereum’s blockchain is able to host other cryptocurrencies, referred to as “tokens,” through the use of its ERC-20 compatibility standard. In fact, this has been the most common use for the ETH platform so far: by 2021, more than 280,000 ERC-20-compliant tokens have been launched. Over 40 of these have at one point made the list of top-100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization (and most still do), for example, Tether (USDT), Chainlink (LINK) and Binance Coin (BNB) to just name a few.

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT)

Furthermore, it allows for ERC-721 standard tokens (NFT), which unlike ERC-20 tokens are unique! A Non-Fungible Token (NFT) is used to identify something or someone in a unique way. This type of token is perfect to be used on platforms that offer collectible items, access keys, lottery tickets, numbered seats for concerts and sports matches, etc.

NFTs are unique tokens which can have different value than another Token from the same smart contract, be it due to its age, rarity or even visually. All NFTs have a uint256 variable called tokenId, so for any ERC-721 Contract, the pair contract address, uint256 tokenId must be globally unique. With the use of a "converter" that uses the tokenId as input, a dApp can then output an image of anything, such as zombies, weapons, skills, basketball plays or... kitties. And thanks to the blockchain technology and ERC-721 standard, ones ownership over such items cannot be mistaken, taken away or forged for that matter.

Decentralized Apps (dApps)

As of 2021, there are over 3,000 decentralized apps (dApps) currently running on the Ethereum blockchain, and growing daily.

These apps differ from regular mobile and web-based apps because they aim to hand users more control over the data the apps manage. Traditional apps, such as Robinhood, Coinbase or Twitter, are managed by a central authority, which ultimately has the last word on how their customers’ data is secured and used – and not always for better.

DApps on the other hand take a decentralized approach to data management, theoretically putting control back in the hands of the user with the help of blockchain technology. Ethereum is the first platform to facilitate the creation of dApps, a technology that several other cryptocurrencies have since adopted in one way or another.

What Does the Ether Token Do?

Ethereum's native token, Ether (ETH) is a cryptocurrency used to pay for the processing power of the EVM in order to conduct transactions and run smart contracts or other Dapps, in what is called 'gas'.

Who Are the Natural Buyers of ETH?

(other than those investing purely for speculative reasons and trading profit)

• Stakers: Token holders who want to participate in network validation and earn staking rewards
• Developers and users of various ETH based projects who need ETH tokens to pay the gas (transaction or contract execution fees)

Ethereum Supply and Tokenomics?

Under the current PoW system (2021-06-02), rewards stand at 2 ETH per block and 1.75 ETH per uncle block (created when more than one block is mined at roughly the same time, as only one block can be validated and added to the ledger). Note that rewards were previously higher before February 2019. With an average block time of ~13.15s at the current mining difficulty level, the annual issuance rate stands at ~4.5%.

Under Eth2’s PoS, the issuance rate is dramatically lower and is expected to range from 0.5% to 1+% based on some reasonable assumptions. It is hard to give a precise rate since issuance is dependent on a number of factors:

1. Amount of ETH staked/ No. of validators: more validators generally leads to more ETH issued. However, as validators’ percentage return from staking and thus their willingness to stake decreases when there are more validators, there is a limit to the amount of ETH that would end up being staked.
2. Extent of bad behavior by validators: if validators go offline or behave maliciously by validating wrong transactions, they are penalized through a loss of ETH that gets burned and decreases supply.

Nevertheless, issuance rate is expected to decrease dramatically.

Overall, Eth2 causes a short term increase in supply rate during its trial phase, before merger with mainnet, as both PoW and PoS systems issue ETH. However, post-merger, Eth2 would lead to a significant drop in supply rate.

ETH 2.0 Effect

• Short term: Eth2’s trial increases ETH issuance rate. It also generates increase in demand as investors purchase ETH on the basis that it can be staked for rewards
• Long term: Eth2 causes a significant drop in the issuance rate after it is merged with Ethereum mainnet. ETH demand increases leading up to and after the Eth2 launch as awareness increases. Considerably lower and more predictable transaction fees.

What Are The Prominent Projects In The Ethereum Ecosystem?

There are over 3,000 decentralized apps (also known as “dapps”) currently running on the Ethereum blockchain. Here are just a few them.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

DeFi aims to expand the utility of cryptocurrencies from day-to-day transactions to more complex financial use cases, such as decentralized exchanges. loans and derivatives.

The DeFi space gained significant traction in 2020, with continued growth well into 2021, with the total value of crypto assets locked in its protocols rising over 2,000% from $650 million at the start of the year to $16.05 billion at the close of 2020. It has since grown even further, reaching a total value locked (TVL) of $89 billion on May 12, 2020.

Ethereum dapps have become so popular that the increased congestion has pushed transaction fees higher than ever, so much so in fact, that it forced the Ethereum Foundation to considerably speed up the development of ETH 2.0.

Uniswap

Uniswap is a decentralized exchange (DEX), meaning that unlike most exchanges it never takes control of a user’s funds. It’s the most popular decentralized exchange so far, and is a cornerstone of Ethereum’s recent booming DeFi movement, facilitating trades from coin to coin.

It utilizes an automated market maker (AMM) system for facilitating trading, meaning the underlying liquidity pools that manage the actual coin-swapping are run by smart contracts as opposed to a traditional order book system.

When trading on a regular centralized crypto exchange, the market price for an asset is determined by supply and demand. In order to buy and sell, a trader must find someone on the opposite side of the order book to provide liquidity to complete a transaction. With AMM based exchanges like Uniswap, PancakeSwap, etc a pricing algorithm determines the market price of each asset. The more people are selling, the lower the price, the more people are buying, the higher the price. Investors are incentivized to provide liquidity which is pooled together and used to execute all trades at the set market prices, in exchange for a percentage of the fees.

Many other exchanges have since literally copied its system with their own forks of Uniswap's smart contract.

Compound

A decentralized lending platform, Compound is credited with inventing liquidity mining, where the company releases a unique coin that only those providing liquidity to the platform can obtain. This DeFi technique has since become foundational, with users tapping the technique to make money and companies copying the idea to attract users.

MakerDao

Stablecoins are an effort to improve upon one of the pain points of cryptocurrencies. Crypto prices fluctuate unpredictably, making them unsuitable as a means of payment and as a reliable store of wealth. While most stablecoins are centralized, MakerDAO is different in that it has put forth a detailed plan for how to eventually decentralize the control of its stablecoin, Dai (DAI).

Aave

Aave is a decentralized lending and borrowing platform that in October 2020 raised $25 million from leading venture capital firms Blockchain.com and Blockchain Capital.

SushiSwap

This decentralized exchange (DEX) is a fork of the popular decentralized Uniswap exchange that rewards liquidity providers with its own native SUSHI token.

Polygon

Polygon, previously known as Matic Network, is a developer-first hybrid POS+Plasma protocol and a framework for building and connecting Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks enabling developers to scale their DApps for large scale usage.

Curve Finance

Curve is a decentralized exchange liquidity pool on Ethereum designed for extremely efficient stablecoin trading. Launched in January 2020, Curve allows users to trade between stablecoins with low slippage, low fee algorithm designed specifically for stablecoins and earning fees.

Oracle Platforms

Chainlink

Chainlink is an oracle platform, which means it connects smart contracts with real-time data from the outside world such as weather information or stock prices. A smart contract uses that data to execute pre-defined instructions. For example, payout an insurance claim in the event of a hurricane.

While Chainlink has been around since 2017, the project didn’t gain much traction until 2019, after it partnered with Google. Chainlink platform is fueled by an ERC-20 crypto token, LINK, and runs on top of the Ethereum network.

Stablecoins

• • Tether: Tether (USDT) is a popular stablecoin that lives on many blockchains simultaneously. It has been dominating Ethereum transactions for quite some time.
  • USDC
  • PAX

Prediction Markets

• • Augur
  • Gnosis

Storage Apps

• • Storj
  • Golem

Games

CryptoKitties

CryptoKitties is a game that allows players to purchase, collect, breed and sell virtual cats. It is one of the earliest attempts to deploy blockchain technology for recreation and leisure. The game's popularity in December 2017 congested the Ethereum network, causing it to reach an all-time high in the number of transactions and slowing it down significantly.

Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity is an online role-playing game where users collect and raise digital, fantastical characters called “Axies.” Under the hood, Axies are types of nonfungible tokens (NFT), which means each one is cryptographically unique, gamers have full ownership over them and in some cases have a monetary value due to their scarce, collectible nature.

Decentraland

A decentralized virtual reality game, where users own virtual plots of land and can build structures such as theme parks and casinos that can be monetized.

Other Ethereum dApps

• • WBTC: Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) is a token on Ethereum that is backed 1:1 by Bitcoin locked within a smart contract. The goal is to bring Bitcoin’s liquidity to Ethereum. It has grown in popularity partly because investors can earn interest on the Bitcoin they lock up on Ethereum.
  • Status: An ether wallet and private messaging system.
  • Unstoppable Domains: One of the oft-touted goals of Ethereum is to decentralize the internet by making apps that are not controlled by tech giants. Unstoppable Domains is playing its part by creating domains that can’t be taken down by a central entity or government.
  • Kyber Network: An AMM, like Uniswap, created by researcher Loi Luu.
  • Basic attention token: An ERC-20 token on Ethereum exchanged between users, publishers, and advertisers on the browser Brave. When using the browser, users receive BAT from advertisers for their attention. BAT is a project led by the creator of JavaScript and co-founder of Mozilla, Brendan Eich.
  • OpenSea: A marketplace for buying and selling NFTs, including Axies (described above), unstoppable domains, digital art, etc.
  • Livepeer: A network for decentralized live-streaming, providing an alternative to YouTube.

There are plenty of other projects on Ethereum network. The projects listed here are just scratching the surface.

Future of Ethereum

Ethereum has been the market leader in crypto innovation thus far and it is our belief that with infrastructure changes of ETH 2.0 and increased scalability, its ability to further dominate the market will increase with it.

What Bitcoin did for money and payments by putting to use the blockchain technology, Ethereum aims to do for applications and organizations of tomorrow. With a built-in scripting language and distributed virtual machine (think of it as an operating system (OS) or application environment), smart contracts will be built to carry out all sorts of functions transparently and without the need for a trusted third party or central authority. Using its native cryptocurrency, ether, nodes can be paid for their processing power to run these decentralized apps, and eventually, entire decentralized autonomous organizations will exist within the Ethereum ecosystem.

Where Can You Buy Ethereum (ETH)?

Seeing as Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, it is possible to buy Ethereum, or use ETH trading pairs on most if not all of the major crypto exchanges. As a matter of fact, you will struggle to find one that does not trade ETH. Some of the largest markets include:

• Binance
• KuCoin
• Huobi Global
• Poloniex
• Coinbase Pro
• OKEx
• Kraken