$ETH Ethereum ($ETH) is a decentralized blockchain with smart contract functionality, launched on July 30, 2015. Its native cryptocurrency, Ether, fuels the network and is used for transaction fees and validator rewards. $ETH's current price is $1,581.28, with a market capitalization of $195.41 billion.

*Key Features:*

- *Smart Contracts*: Ethereum allows deploying decentralized applications (dApps) with self-executing contracts, enabling use cases like decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and gaming.

- *Proof-of-Stake*: Ethereum transitioned to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism in 2022, reducing energy consumption by over 99%.

- *Scalability*: Ongoing upgrades aim to improve scalability, including Proto-Danksharding (EIP-4844) and future enhancements like Pectra (Prague-Electra).¹ ²