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Ethereum

Ethereum
Logo
Original author(s)Vitalik Buterin
Gavin Wood
Initial release30 July 2015 (2015-07-30)
Stable release1.12.2 / 13 August 2023 (2023-08-13)
Development statusActive
Software usedEVM 1 Bytecode
Written inGo, Rust, C#, C++, Java, Python, Nim, TypeScript
Operating systemCross-platform
Platformx86-64, ARM
Available inMultilingual, but primarily English
TypeDistributed computing
LicenseOpen-source licenses
Active hosts~8,600 nodes (6 June 2023)[1]
Websiteethereum.org

Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether (abbreviation: ETH[a]) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capitalization.[2][3] It is open-source software.

Ethereum was conceived in 2013 by programmer Vitalik Buterin.[4] Other founders include Gavin Wood, Charles Hoskinson, Anthony Di Iorio, and Joseph Lubin.[5] In 2014, development work began and was crowdfunded, and the network went live on 30 July 2015.[6] Ethereum allows anyone to deploy permanent and immutable decentralized applications onto it, with which users can interact.[7] Decentralized finance (DeFi) applications provide financial instruments that do not directly rely on financial intermediaries like brokerages, exchanges, or banks. This facilitates borrowing against cryptocurrency holdings or lending them out for interest.[8][9] Ethereum also allows users to create and exchange non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are tokens that can be tied to unique digital assets, such as images. Additionally, many other cryptocurrencies utilize the ERC-20 token standard on top of the Ethereum blockchain and have utilized the platform for initial coin offerings.

On 15 September 2022, Ethereum transitioned its consensus mechanism from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) in an upgrade process known as "the Merge". This has cut Ethereum's energy usage by 99%.[10]

  1. ^ "Clients". Ethernodes. 6 June 2023. Archived from the original on 11 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  2. ^ Szalay, Eva; Venkataramakrishnan, Siddharth (28 May 2021). "What are cryptocurrencies and stablecoins and how do they work?". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  3. ^ Vigna, Paul (3 June 2021). "DeFi Is Helping to Fuel the Crypto Market Boom—and Its Recent Volatility". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  4. ^ Tapscott & Tapscott 2016, pp. 87.
  5. ^ Paumgarten, Nick (15 October 2018). "The Prophets of Cryptocurrency Survey the Boom and Bust". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 9 January 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  6. ^ Foundation, Ethereum (30 July 2015). "Ethereum Launches". blog.ethereum.org. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  7. ^ Popper, Nathaniel (19 June 2017). "Move Over, Bitcoin. Ether Is the Digital Currency of the Moment. (Published 2017)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  8. ^ Vigna, Paul (3 May 2021). "Ethereum Is Booming in the NFT Frenzy—So Is Network Congestion". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  9. ^ "There are two very real reasons Ethereum is taking off". Fortune. 6 May 2021. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  10. ^ Clark, Aaron (6 December 2022). "Ethereum's Energy Revamp Is No Guarantee of Global Climate Gains". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2023.


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