Ethereum
Ethereum is an open-source platform that serves to execute smart contracts. It is programmable, meaning that developers can use it in the creation of decentralized applications.
These decentralized applications (abbreviated in English as dapps) leverage the transaction capabilities of cryptocurrencies, the programmability of a smart contract, and blockchain technology. They are reliable and predictable, which means that once they are loaded (mined) on Ethereum, they will always execute as programmed.
They can control digital assets to create new types of financial applications. They can be decentralized, meaning that no entity or person controls them.
At this moment, thousands of developers around the world are creating applications on Ethereum and inventing new types of applications, many of which you can use today:
Cryptocurrency wallets that allow you to make cheap and instant payments with ETH or other assets (tokens).
Financial applications that allow you to borrow, lend, or invest your digital assets.
Decentralized markets, which allow exchanging digital assets, or even exchanging "predictions" about real-world events.
Games where you have in-game assets and even can earn real money.
Non-fungible tokens.
The software developer Vitalik Buterin proposed integrating a Turing-complete language into Bitcoin's scripting system as an improvement to the protocol, although the concept is an original idea of Sergio Demian Lerner that he develops in his thesis. The development of it was achieved through a crowdfunding platform, from July to August 2014. The system was officially launched on July 30, 2015.
After a fork of the blockchain in July 2016, there are two active Ethereum blockchains: Ethereum and Ethereum Classic.
Like other cryptocurrencies, Ethereum has been heavily criticized for its footprint
