$ETH

Ethereum ($ETH) is a decentralized blockchain network that enables the creation of decentralized applications (dApps) and decentralized finance (DeFi) services. Here's a breakdown of its key features and functionalities:

*Key Features*

- *Decentralized Application Ecosystem*: Ethereum allows users to build and run various applications, such as finance, gaming, and social media, without intermediaries.

- *Smart Contracts*: Self-executing agreements that enforce rules and conditions, enabling decentralized and autonomous decision-making.

- *Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)*: A platform that allows any code compatible with EVM to run and perform computations on the Ethereum network.

- *Proof of Stake (PoS)*: Ethereum's consensus mechanism, which is more energy-efficient and less vulnerable to centralization compared to Proof of Work (PoW).

*Use Cases*

- *Decentralized Finance (DeFi)*: Ethereum facilitates peer-to-peer lending, trading of digital assets, and creation of decentralized organizations.

- *Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)*: Unique digital assets representing art, collectibles, and more.

- *Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)*: Organizations governed by their members through voting on proposals using smart contracts.

*Technical Details*

- *Gas*: A unit of measurement for computational effort, used to calculate transaction fees.

- *Gas Fees*: Paid to validators in Ether (ETH) for processing transactions and executing smart contracts.

- *Block Time*: Approximately 12 seconds.

- *Native Cryptocurrency*: Ether (ETH) is used to power the network, pay for network fees, and secure the network through staking ¹.