$ETH

Digital currency and blockchain technology are reshaping the landscape of the financial sector with disruptive power. The decentralized nature of Bitcoin: Bitcoin breaks free from traditional currency issuance and transaction models, with a limited total supply and scarcity similar to gold. Ethereum's smart contract platform: Ethereum is not only a digital currency but also supports developers in writing code and creating decentralized applications. The wide application of blockchain in the financial sector: Blockchain applications in areas such as cross-border payments, supply chain finance, and securities trading reduce costs and improve efficiency. Challenges of digital currency and blockchain: Factors such as price volatility, performance bottlenecks, and technical issues restrict the large-scale adoption of digital currency and blockchain.

Ethereum takes a step further based on Bitcoin; it was launched in 2015 and is not only a digital currency but also a smart contract platform. Developers can write code and create decentralized applications (DApps) on its blockchain. For example, in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, lending platforms rely on smart contracts to automatically execute borrowing and repayment processes, eliminating the need for banks to review credit and handle cumbersome procedures. Global users can mortgage digital assets to borrow funds anytime and anywhere, breaking geographical and financial institution barriers; non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are also a proud achievement of Ethereum, granting unique 'identifications' to digital artworks, music, game items, etc., enabling the identification and trading of digital assets, giving virtual items real market value, and opening a new chapter in the creator economy.

Blockchain technology is widely applied in the financial sector. In cross-border payments, previous international transfers required multiple banks to act as intermediaries, with lengthy processes and high fees. With the help of blockchain distributed ledgers and encryption algorithms, banks or payment institutions can build consortium chains to achieve peer-to-peer instant transfers, reducing costs and improving efficiency; in supply chain finance, core enterprises, upstream and downstream suppliers, and financial institutions share blockchain ledgers, with assets like accounts receivable from suppliers being recorded on-chain. Financial institutions provide financing based on real and credible transaction data, revitalizing the cash flow in the supply chain; in the securities trading field, from stock issuance, trading clearing to equity registration, blockchain records the entire process, reducing manual operations and reconciliation errors, shortening settlement cycles, and enhancing market liquidity and stability.