$ETH – is the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, behind only Bitcoin. Unlike Bitcoin, which is primarily a store of value, Ethereum is a decentralized platform for creating decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts.

🔍 Key Features of Ethereum

Founder: Vitalik Buterin (launched in 2015)

Token: Ether (ETH)

Main function: Power the Ethereum network, pay transaction fees (gas), and enable the execution of smart contracts.

Current network: Ethereum has been operating under Proof of Stake (PoS) since the merger ("The Merge", September 2022), abandoning the mining model.

🚀 Recent Updates

Proto-Danksharding (EIP-4844 / Cancun-Deneb upgrade):

Reduced transaction costs for Layer 2s.

Improved network scalability.

Development of Layer 2s:

Solutions like Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, and zkSync are rapidly growing.

Ethereum is currently the ecosystem with the highest TVL (Total Value Locked) in DeFi.

📈 Market Situation (August 2025)

(Values may vary over time)

Current price: Approximately $3,500–$4,000 USD (check real-time quotes).

Market capitalization: Over $400 billion.

Market dominance: ~15% of the total crypto market.

🧠 Use Cases

DeFi: Uniswap, Aave, Compound, Curve, etc.

NFTs: OpenSea, Foundation, Rarible.

DAOs: Decentralized autonomous organizations that use smart contracts.

Games and Metaverse: Axie Infinity, Decentraland, etc.

🔮 Future Prospects

Scalability: Advances with sharding, rollups, and improvements in the main network.

Institutional adoption: Increased use of Ethereum by large companies.

Regulation: Under review in various jurisdictions, focusing on security and compliance.

If you want to know:

The main wallets to store ETH

How to stake ETH

Or which projects built on Ethereum are worth following