What Is Ethereum?

2023 Author: Sheila Hailey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 04:29

Currently, Ethereum (and the cryptocurrency Ether named after it) is considered the biggest competitor to Bitcoin. Just like Bitcoin, Ether has gone through an enormous increase in value in recent years. However, since ether is still significantly cheaper than bitcoin, many potential investors are switching to ethereum as a more promising alternative.

Private users are also fueling the boom. Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum mining is still worthwhile (albeit limited). The result is that potential miners upgrade their computers with expensive mining hardware. Among other things, the prices for graphics cards have risen sharply since 2017.

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Who Invented Ether?

The idea for Ethereum originally came from the Russian-born programmer Vitalik Buterin. Buterin has been on the Bitcoin scene since 2011 and founded the well-known Bitcoin Magazine. Buterin described Ethereum in the so-called Ethereum White Paper at the end of 2013. Together with Gavin Wood and Jeffrey Wilcke, the cryptocurrency was then announced in early 2014 and founded with the Swiss non-profit Ethereum Foundation. Buterin and Wilcke still hold leading roles in the foundation.

What is so special about Ethereum?

The special feature of Ethereum is the multitude of use cases. Among other things, it can be used to manage crowdfunding systems, digital autonomous organizations (DAO), currencies, proof of ownership, financial titles or electronic voting systems. The highlight: thanks to blockchain technology, these smart contracts work without central middlemen.

In the long term, Ethereum wants to turn the entire current data management system upside down. While information is now stored on the server farms of a few large companies such as Google, Amazon or Facebook, the Ethereum blockchain wants to decouple both data hosting and the monitoring of contract fulfillment from a few Internet giants. Ultimately, the current client-server model is to be decentralized with Ethereum.

The technology definitely has a lot of potential for the future and we are excited to see what we can expect in the coming years. At this point we provide you with tips, tricks and current news about Ethereum and Ether.

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