$ETH Ethereum often abbreviated as ETH is a decentralized blockchain platform that enables the creation and execution of smart contracts and decentralized applications also known as dApps without the need for intermediaries or central authorities ETH was proposed in 2013 by Vitalik Buterin and development began in early 2014 with the network officially launching in July 2015 Ethereum has its own cryptocurrency called Ether which is used to pay for transaction fees and computational services on the network The unique feature of Ethereum lies in its programmable nature allowing developers to build complex logic and automated processes directly onto the blockchain Unlike Bitcoin which primarily serves as a digital currency Ethereum functions more like a global computer enabling innovation in fields like decentralized finance nonfungible tokens gaming and governance In 2022 Ethereum transitioned from a proof of work consensus mechanism to proof of stake significantly reducing its energy consumption and opening new possibilities for network scalability and sustainability This upgrade known as The Merge was a major milestone in the evolution of blockchain technology As Ethereum continues to evolve with planned updates like sharding and layer two scaling solutions it remains at the forefront of the Web3 movement driving forward the vision of a decentralized open and trustless internet for the future
