Ethereum (ETH) is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that is celebrated as the "world's programmable blockchain." While its native cryptocurrency, Ether (ETH), is the second-largest by market cap and can be used for payments, Ethereum's core innovation is its ability to host smart contracts and enable developers to build thousands of decentralized applications. These dApps power nearly all of the Finance (DeFi) and Non-Fungible Token (NFT) markets, making ETH the essential "gas" that fuels the execution of all activity on the network.