ETH Price

Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that facilitates the creation and execution of decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts. First proposed in 2013 by Vitalik Buterin, the platform's main goal is to provide a decentralized alternative to centralized systems and promote the decentralization of the internet. Ethereum has a wide range of use cases, including decentralized finance (DeFi), supply chain management, gaming, identity management, governance, and more. Ethereum's versatility has made it a leading platform in the blockchain ecosystem, supporting decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which have revolutionized the art and gaming industries.

Ether (ETH), the native coin of Ethereum, is used to pay transactions and computational resource fees. Smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain are written in a programming language called Solidity and are executed by the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Gas serves as an internal pricing mechanism to incentivize network participants to contribute computational resources for the validation of transactions and the execution of smart contracts. Smart contracts are executed automatically and transparently, providing an alternative to traditional financial systems.

Ethereum was initially funded through a 2014 crowdsale and launched in 2015, with 11.9 million coins sold. Since its inception, Ethereum has evolved and expanded its capabilities, becoming a leading platform for decentralized applications and a key player in the decentralized ecosystem.

The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is a software environment responsible for executing and enforcing the rules of the Ethereum protocol. It operates independently from the host computer to maintain the security and integrity of the network. The EVM is Turing complete, meaning that it is capable of executing any computation that can be expressed as an algorithm. This makes the EVM capable of executing smart contracts and facilitating the creation of decentralized applications (dApps) on the Ethereum blockchain using a stack-based architecture. It operates as a virtual machine, providing a consistent, isolated, and secure execution environment for code and maintaining a valid machine state. The EVM is critical to the reliability and stability of the Ethereum network, serving as a foundation for smart contract and dApp execution and ensuring that the specifications of the Ethereum protocol are followed consistently across the network.

Ethereum employs an internal pricing mechanism, referred to as gas, to regulate the cost of transactions on its network. Gas is paid for in Ether and serves as compensation for the computational resources consumed during the execution of smart contracts or transactions. The gas price is denominated in Gwei, a subunit of Ether, and users have the ability to specify the gas price they are willing to pay for a transaction, providing them with greater control over the priority and execution of their transactions.

Gas is an essential component of the Ethereum network, paid to validators in return for the computational effort required to perform specific operations on the Ethereum network. Gas price is denominated in Gwei, equal to one billionth of one ETH. Gas fees are required to be paid for the processing of transactions and the execution of smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. More complex operations, such as executing contracts with multiple instructions, typically require more gas than simple transactions like sending Ether from one address to another. If the gas limit is set too low, the transaction or contract execution may run out of gas and fail, and the user's ETH will be returned minus any gas fees already paid. If the gas limit is set too high, the user may pay more gas fees than is necessary. Gas price is determined by the market demand for Ethereum transactions and the computational effort required to execute them. Gas prices can fluctuate based on network activity, leading to longer transaction times and higher fees. Users are responsible for selecting an appropriate gas limit to ensure their transactions or smart contract executions are successful. Gas fee estimators can help determine appropriate gas fees, based on current network conditions, average gas limits and average gas fees. Users can choose to pay more gas to prioritize their transactions during times of high network congestion, however it is important to remember to keep the gas limit within your budget.

Ethereum was created by Vitalik Buterin, a programmer and cryptocurrency enthusiast, in 2013. Buterin had been involved in the Bitcoin community since 2011 and had become interested in the idea of using blockchain technology for more than just financial transactions. While Vitalik Buterin is the most well-known figure associated with the creation of Ethereum, there were several other individuals who played important roles in the project's development. Some of the other key players include Gavin Wood, who was the co-founder and CTO of Ethereum until 2016, and who played a major role in the development of the Ethereum virtual machine (EVM), which allows smart contracts to be executed on the Ethereum network. Another important figure was Jeffrey Wilcke, who was one of the core developers of Ethereum and played a key role in the design and implementation of the Ethereum protocol. Other early contributors to Ethereum included Charles Hoskinson, who helped to design the initial governance structure for Ethereum, and Mihai Alisie, who co-founded the Ethereum Foundation with Buterin and played an important role in the early development of the project. Overall, the creation of Ethereum was a collaborative effort involving many talented individuals who were passionate about the potential of blockchain technology to transform the world of finance and beyond.

Ethereum's inception is credited to Vitalik Buterin, an early adopter in the cryptocurrency space who has been active in the blockchain industry from its early days. Buterin pursued advanced coursework in cryptography at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. In November 2013, he published a whitepaper titled "Ethereum: A Next-Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform." In the paper, Buterin proposed a platform that would allow developers to build decentralized applications (DApps) using smart contracts, which are self-executing computer programs that can automatically enforce the rules of a contract. In 2014, he decided to drop out of university after receiving a $100k grant from the Thiel Fellowship program, and has since dedicated himself full-time to Ethereum. Buterin's contributions have been instrumental in shaping the direction of the platform and the broader cryptocurrency landscape. His leadership and vision have been widely recognized in the industry.

The development of the Ethereum blockchain platform was funded through a crowdsale campaign that took place online during the months of July and August in the year 2014. This crowdsale served as a means to raise funds and gather support for the growth and advancement of the Ethereum ecosystem.

The Ethereum network's Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism is known for its high level of security, which has been enhanced through extensive research, development, and testing over the past eight years. However, Ethereum has encountered several noteworthy security incidents in the past that have resulted in substantial financial losses for users and investors. One of the most notable incidents was the exploitation of a vulnerability in The DAO, a smart contract on the Ethereum network, in June 2016, resulting in the loss of roughly one-third of The DAO's funds, valued at approximately $50 million at the time. This led to a hard fork of the Ethereum blockchain, and the creation of Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. Security vulnerabilities were further exposed in 2017, when a series of attacks on vulnerable smart contracts led to tens of millions of dollars in losses for users and investors. These incidents included the Parity wallet hack, which resulted in the loss of over $30 million worth of ETH, and the BatchOverflow and IntegerOverflow attacks, which exploited the vulnerabilities in smart contracts to manipulate transactions and steal funds. These incidents raised significant concerns about the network's security, prompting Ethereum's developers to take measures to enhance its security and prevent similar attacks from occurring in the future. Despite these incidents, Ethereum's PoS consensus mechanism continues to provide a range of security guarantees, such as the ability to actively punish and eject malicious validators from the network, costing them substantial amounts of ETH. Attacks on Ethereum under PoS are more costly than under Proof of Work (PoW) blockchains. To control the contents of future blocks, at least 51% of the total staked ETH is required, and to rewrite history, over 66% of the total stake is needed. The Ethereum protocol would destroy assets in the 33% or 51% attack scenarios and by social consensus in the 66% attack scenario. Ethereum prioritizes privacy, transparency, and security, utilizing measures such as public-key cryptography and advanced encryption techniques to safeguard user data and enhance its security. The network's developers have also taken steps to enhance its security, such as implementing formal verification techniques, and enhancing the security of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). As a result, it has established a reputation as a trustworthy and secure blockchain platform for building decentralized applications and smart contracts.