$ETH $ETH

Excellent — let’s go into Ethereum (ETH) — one of the most important cryptocurrencies.

🔎 What is Ethereum?

Launched: 2015 (by Vitalik Buterin and others)

Type: Blockchain platform (not just a currency like Bitcoin)

Native token: ETH

🔧 Main Purpose:

Ethereum is a decentralized platform that allows developers to build smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps).

It’s often called the "world computer" because anyone can deploy code on the blockchain.

💰 Use Cases:

Smart contracts (self-executing code)

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)

DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations)

Token creation (most tokens you see like USDT, UNI, LINK started on Ethereum ERC-20 standard)

🔥 Ethereum vs Bitcoin:

FeatureEthereumBitcoinPurposeProgrammable platformDigital currency/store of valueSmart ContractsYesNoSupplyNo hard cap21 million maxConsensusProof of Stake (since Sept 2022)Proof of Work

🔑 Ethereum 2.0 / The Merge:

In September 2022, Ethereum switched from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS).

This made the network much more energy-efficient (around 99% less power consumption).

ETH staking is now possible (validators lock up ETH to support the network).

📈 ETH Price:

Highly volatile like most crypto.

ATH (All Time High): ~$4,878 (Nov 2021)

June 2025 price: ~$3,600–3,800 range (varies daily).

🚩 Risks:

Market volatility

Regulatory uncertainty

Network congestion (high gas fees during peak times)

Competition from other blockchains (Solana, Cardano, Avalanche, etc.)

🔮 Future Potential:

Institutional adoption

Layer 2 scaling (Arbitrum, Optimism, etc.)

ETH ETFs (may boost price)

DeFi/NFT/metaverse expansion