$ETH

ETH (Ether) is the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain, a decentralized platform that enables the execution of smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). ETH functions include:

1. Means of payment on the Ethereum network

• ETH is used to pay transaction fees (called gas fees) on the Ethereum network.

• Whenever an operation is executed (for example, a smart contract or the transfer of a token), users must pay a fee in ETH to compensate the miners or validators who process and validate the transactions.

2. Fuel for smart contracts

• Smart contracts on Ethereum need ETH to be executed. ETH is like the “fuel” that powers operations on the blockchain.

• The more complex the operation, the greater the amount of ETH required as gas.

3. Financial asset

• ETH is widely used as a store of value and means of exchange in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

• It is traded on exchanges and used as collateral in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols such as lending and staking.

4. Staking

• After the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade, Ethereum adopted the Proof of Stake model, where validators need to “lock up” ETH in staking to validate transactions and create new blocks.

• In return, validators receive rewards in ETH.

5. Support for the DeFi ecosystem

• ETH is widely used in DeFi applications such as lending, liquidity pools, and derivatives.

• It is also used to interact with other tokens and protocols that operate on the Ethereum network.

6. Creating and trading NFTs

• ETH is the primary currency used to create, purchase, and trade NFTs (non-fungible tokens) on platforms such as OpenSea.

7. (Potential) governance