$ETH Ethereum (ETH) is a decentralized blockchain platform that allows for the creation and execution of smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). Launched in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin and other developers, Ethereum has expanded the boundaries of blockchain technology by going beyond financial transactions, enabling the programming of custom rules directly on the network. Its native token, Ether (ETH), is used both as currency and as fuel (gas) to perform operations on the network.

One of Ethereum's main innovations is the support for the *Ethereum Virtual Machine* (EVM), which makes it possible for anyone to create decentralized applications with specific functionalities, without relying on central servers. This is crucial for the growth of areas such as decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations).

In 2022, the network underwent a major upgrade known as *The Merge*, which replaced the *Proof of Work* (PoW) consensus mechanism with *Proof of Stake* (PoS), significantly reducing the network's energy consumption. Ethereum continues to evolve, being one of the pillars of the so-called Web3.