Ethereum ETH
Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or third party interference. In many ways Ethereum is how the internet was supposed to be. Free, open and uncensored.
In some aspects it’s design is very similar to Bitcoin. Miners hash blocks of transactions and are rewarded in newly created coins, in this case ether (ETH). On the other hand Ethereum is vastly different. That’s because Ethereum and it’s technology is a decentralized app platform
for which money is merely one of the possible applications.
Etheruem uses a new type of proof-of-work algorithm specifically designed for the project called Ethash. An algorithm that is supposed to mimic the beneficial features of SHA256 hashing, yet utilize some key principles found in the Scrypt algorithm. This creates a memory-hard algorithm that will be more resistant to ASIC’s. A dedicated hardware that is only designed to mine a specific coin or more so to solve a certain computational task.
Yet it’s similarities with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Ethereum is not only a currency, it’s platform for smart contracts and decentralized applications.
Or as Wikipedia says
Ethereum is a blockchain-based virtual machine and Web 3.0 platform featuring stateful user-created digital contracts and a Turing-complete contract programming language. Ethereum uses its underlying network unit, Ether, as payment to execute Ethereum contracts as a workaround to the halting problem.
Though this might sounds like technical gibberish. Ethereum truly servers as a new and viable option for creating and deploying blockchain-style application that requires decentralized trust. Possibly the REAL web 3.0, a new layer of the internet, building on the same core principles and building blocks that once governed the internet. Freedom, privacy and trust.
