Ethereum is a decentralized open-source blockchain system that includes its own cryptocurrency, Ether. ETH serves as a platform for numerous other cryptocurrencies, as well as for the execution of decentralized smart contracts.
Ethereum was first described in a whitepaper in 2013 by Vitalik Buterin. Buterin, along with other co-founders, secured funding for the project in an online public sale in the summer of 2014 and officially launched the blockchain on July 30, 2015.
The goal of Ethereum is to become a global platform for decentralized applications, allowing users worldwide to write and execute censorship-resistant, downtime-resistant, and fraud-resistant software.
