🌐 Exploring Blockchains: Part 2 - Ethereum
⚡ Ethereum: the blockchain of smart contracts
If Bitcoin created decentralized digital money, Ethereum went further: it paved the way for a decentralized internet.
Launched in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum is the second largest blockchain in the world and the most used for DeFi, NFTs, and DApps.
🔗 How does Ethereum ($ETH ) work?
Ethereum is also a public, decentralized blockchain, but with a key difference:
It supports smart contracts — programs that run automatically when certain conditions are met.
This enables everything from decentralized exchanges (DEXs) to NFTs, games, and DAOs.
Its network is maintained by thousands of validators, ensuring the integrity of transactions.
⚡ From Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake
Until 2022, Ethereum used mining just like Bitcoin. But with the event known as The Merge, the network transitioned to Proof-of-Stake (PoS):
✅ More energy-efficient
✅ Greater scalability in the future
✅ Economic incentives for stakers/validators
💎 An expanding ecosystem
Over 3,000 active DApps
Hosts a large share of the DeFi sector
Home to NFT projects and digital collectibles
Supports stablecoins like USDT and USDC
⚠️ Current challenges
High gas fees during periods of congestion
Strong competition from other blockchains (Solana, Avalanche, Polygon)
Scalability improvements still in progress, with L2 solutions (Arbitrum, Optimism, zkSync)
🔮 The future of Ethereum ($ETH )
The roadmap includes sharding and other scaling upgrades.
The goal: to support millions of transactions per second without sacrificing security or decentralization.
📌 Summary:
Ethereum is the heart of Web3 — the engine behind DApps, NFTs, and DeFi. More than just a blockchain, it’s the platform that unlocked decentralized innovation.
👉 Have you ever used an NFT, DeFi platform, or Web3 game on Ethereum? Share your experience in the comments!
💬 Save this post and comment #Solana if you want Part 3 of the “Exploring Blockchains” series!
