ETH is regarded as Crypto 2.0 because it applies smart contracts to solve many problems of the Crypto market.
What is ETH?
In the context of the continuous development of the Crypto field, ETH stands out as a pioneering force. In this article, readers will gain an in-depth understanding of ETH's history, technology, use cases, and potential future.
1. What is ETH?
ETH is an open source, public and permissionless blockchain technology platform that allows decentralized applications (Dapps) to be executed on its network. The ETH blockchain network is a global supercomputer system with hundreds of thousands of interconnected devices that maintain their computing state.
The native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain. ETH is the fuel for these applications and transactions on the network.
2. History of ETH
When BTC came out in 2009, the Crypto community initially focused on providing a borderless, self-sovereign, secure, and permissionless financial model. Many people were more concerned about how BTC could revolutionize the financial industry by transferring power from central governments to ordinary people, rather than waiting for BTC to reach its peak. At the time, the focus was on digital assets and the underlying blockchain technology behind them.
However, as more people began to understand how BTC worked, they began to envision other possibilities. Some tried to add more functionality to the BTC blockchain, while others aimed to create their own variations on the decentralized network. Regardless of the approach, most developers are still limited by the original codebase and architectural structure of the BTC network.
The obvious limitation of this widely used approach is that Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin does not use a Turing-complete programming language and cannot flexibly adapt to the deployment of various functions.
Most efforts to improve the BTC network did not yield good results given its infrastructure. Then, a 19-year-old named Vitalik Buterin came up with a solution to address the limitations of the BTC protocol and make blockchain a cornerstone for a range of applications beyond finance.
In 2013, programmer Vitalik Buterin and a group of collaborators invented a new platform called ETH, which completely changed the existing Internet system.
In July 2015, ETH released its beta version and brought a new dimension to the network through smart contract technology.
3. ETH founding team
ETH was founded by a group of talented people, the most prominent of whom is Vitalik Buterin. Here is a brief overview of the founders of ETH:
1. Vitalik Buterin: Russian-Canadian programmer Vitalik Buterin is the most famous co-founder of ETH. He conceived ETH and wrote the ETH white paper in late 2013, laying the foundation for the platform. His vision for ETH is to create a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform capable of executing smart contracts, thereby enabling a wide range of applications beyond Crypto. Vitalik's innovative ideas and technical expertise played a key role in the creation and development of the platform.
2.Gavin Wood: Gavin Wood is another co-founder of ETH and a key contributor to the development of ETH. He played an important role in designing ETH's Solidity programming language, which is essential for creating smart contracts on the platform. Gavin Wood later founded Parity Technologies, which developed one of the leading ETH clients.
3. Joseph Lubin: Former Goldman Sachs executive Joseph Lubin is the co-founder of ETH and later founded blockchain software technology company ConsenSys. ConsenSys has contributed to the ETH ecosystem by building various tools, dApps, and developer resources.
4. Mihai Alisie: Mihai Alisie co-founded BTC magazine with Vitalik Buterin, which played an important role in educating the crypto community. He later became one of the co-founders of ETH and continues to contribute to its development and promotion.
5.Anthony Di Iorio: Anthony Di Iorio is known for co-founding ETH and is actively involved in the Crypto field. He founded the blockchain company Decentral and created the Jaxx Crypto wallet.
This group of co-founders, along with Vitalik Buterin, played a key role in the development and launch of ETH.
ETH and DAO hacking incidents
The DAO began operations in May 2016 as a decentralized venture capital fund. After more than a month of fundraising, the DAO successfully accumulated approximately $162 million worth of ETH. The system also expanded its functionality by splitting the DAO into sub-DAOs, allowing members to pursue common investment goals.
On June 12, 2016, Stephan Tual, one of the founders of The DAO, announced the discovery of a smart contract vulnerability, but claimed that it "would not pose a threat to the DAO fund." However, just as the development team was working to fix the vulnerability, a hacker began to exploit it.
On June 18, 2016, the attacker successfully transferred more than 3.6 million ETH (equivalent to $70 million at the time) to a child DAO account called "DAO Child". Faced with the development team's helplessness, the price of ETH fell from $20 to below $13.
Soft Fork In response to this situation, a soft fork proposal was passed to prevent hackers from extracting funds from The DAO.
Immediately after the hard fork and soft fork, a hard fork solution was proposed to return all ETH to investors. The hard fork solution would transfer all stolen ETH and the remaining ETH in the DAO to an account called "Refund DAO".
The vast majority of ETH holders agreed to this proposal, and it was implemented on block number 1,920,000 on July 20, 2016. According to this proposal, the ETH network split into ETH and ETH Classic.
5. ETH Token Standard
ERC is the set of rules required to implement tokens on the ETH network. Developers use these standards to deploy smart contracts on the ETH blockchain platform.
Before being applied to the ETH blockchain, ERC must be modified, reviewed, and accepted by the community through an ETH Improvement Proposal (EIP, also known as an ETH Improvement Proposal).
ERC20
ERC20 is a set of common rules and specifications for issuing tokens on the ETH platform, originally proposed by Vitalik Buterin in June 2015.
The introduction of the ERC20 standard provides developers with a common framework for deploying fungible tokens on the ETH platform.
Additionally, ERC20 made it easier than ever to create tokens on the Ethereum blockchain, a factor in the surge in initial coin offerings (ICOs) in 2017.
ERC721
ERC721 is a standard for issuing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the ETH platform, first proposed by William Entriken, Dieter Shirley, Jacob Evans and Nastassia Sachs in January 2018.
The ERC721 standard allows ETH developers to open up a new ecosystem of decentralized applications (DApps) that use NFTs. The first notable success in this regard was CryptoKitties, an ETH-based DApp for breeding virtual cats that caused a huge sensation in the Crypto community.
Other ERC standards
In addition to ERC20 and ERC721, ETH has two other token standards you should know about:
ERC-777: This standard solves some of the problems encountered by ERC20 and is expected to surpass ERC20 with its superior features.
ERC-1155: This standard applies to various types of tokens, including non-fungible tokens and fungible tokens. It combines elements of ERC20 and ERC721 and was proposed to the ETH community by the CTO of the Enjin Coin project in June 2018.
6. Detailed information about ETH
What is ETH?
ETH, or Ether, is the official cryptocurrency of the ETH blockchain. In the ETH network, ETH is used as fuel (Gas fee) to perform transaction-related operations.
In simple terms, the ETH blockchain can be thought of as a machine that requires “ETH” as fuel to run smoothly.
Key metrics for ETH
Token name: ETH.
Code: ETH.
Blockchain: ETH.
Token standard: ERC-20.
Type: Utilities and Governance.
Maximum supply: Unlimited.
Circulating supply: 120,264,972 ETH (as of October 20, 2023).
Token Use Cases
ETH has multiple uses, including:
1. ETH Gas Fees: Similar to BTC, ETH is used to pay for Gas fees on the ETH network. Gas fees vary depending on the level of network congestion; Gas fees increase when the network is busy and decrease when congestion is low.
2. Gas fees for Layer 2: In addition to ETH, ETH is also used as gas fees for Layer 2 scaling solutions such as Arbitrum and Optimism.
3. Stake to become a validator: Since the transition from proof of work to proof of stake, ETH can be staked to become a validator and thus receive rewards from the network.
4. Participate in DeFi: ETH is the second largest Crypto by market capitalization. It is widely accepted not only on the ETH network, but also in various other ecosystems, such as BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Optimism, etc. ETH can be used for staking, farming, lending, and as a means of payment in certain NFT markets.
ETH Technology
ETH runs on a decentralized, open-source blockchain, powered by a consensus mechanism called Proof of Stake (PoS), which promises scalability, lower energy consumption, and enhanced security compared to older blockchain networks using Proof of Work (PoW).
7. Use Cases of ETH
The versatility of ETH is one of its main advantages. It is not only a Crypto, but also a platform for building decentralized applications. DApps on ETH cover a wide range of applications, from decentralized finance (DeFi) to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and more. The possibilities are almost endless.
8. How to get ETH
You can obtain it on various Crypto exchanges using either fiat currency or other Crypto. It is essential to choose a reputable exchange and ensure you have a secure wallet to store your ETH. Alternatively, you can buy ETH directly from someone in exchange for cash through a peer-to-peer transaction. However, it is essential to research and comply with all current legal principles and restrictions.
9. ETH Exchange
ETH is a popular Crypto in the market and is currently traded on numerous exchanges, from large to small. Some of the top exchanges where you can buy ETH include Binance, Coinbase, OKX, Kraken, KuCoin…
10. Storage and Security of ETH
In the world of Crypto, security is of paramount importance. You can choose to store your ETH in multiple places, including reputable centralized exchanges like Binance and Coinbase. You can also use trusted hardware wallets like Ledger Nano X, Ledger Nano S, and Trezor One, or choose leading hot wallets like Metamask, Trust, Safepal, etc.
Be wary of fraud attempts and utilize two-factor authentication for added security.
11. Summary
ETH, as the fuel of the ETH blockchain, is more than just a Crypto. It is a groundbreaking technology that supports decentralized applications and smart contracts. With a vibrant ecosystem and ambitious vision, ETH will continue to shape the future of the blockchain space.
However, ETH still needs to overcome its limitations to maintain its position. Fundamental questions include whether ETH and its complex roadmap of technical upgrades can compete with faster-moving competitors, and whether a consensus on its long-term functionality will emerge as the crypto world develops.
The above is a general insight into the ETH project. We hope that this information will be helpful to readers who are researching ETH for investment purposes. We will update more popular science knowledge about the cryptocurrency circle in the future. Welcome to like and follow us!
