ETHEREUM

After ethereum, Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. It's also a decentralized computing platform that can host a wide range of apps, including decentralized financial (or DeFi) apps and services. On the Ethereum blockchain, everything from financial tools and games to complicated databases is already functioning. And only the developers' imaginations may limit its future potential. "Ethereum is for more than money," says the Ethereum Foundation, a non-profit organization. It's a financial services, gaming, and app marketplace that won't steal your data or censor you."

Smart contracts, like normal paper contracts, are used to define the conditions of an agreement between parties, and they are used to build Ethereum-based apps. Smart contracts, unlike traditional contracts, automatically execute when the terms are met, without the need for either party to know who is on the other side of the transaction – or for any form of middleman.

Ethereum, like ethereum, is a decentralized open source project with no one owner or operator. Anyone who has access to the internet can run an Ethereum node and interact with the network. Ethereum, on the other hand, differs from ethereum in terms of its ability to create and execute smart contracts. Stablecoins (which are fixed to the dollar by smart contracts), decentralized finance apps (collectively known as DeFi), and other decentralized apps are all possible with smart contracts on Ethereum (or dapps). Ethereum, like ethereum, is protected by a worldwide network of computers known as "miners" that process and verify transactions. Unlike ethereum, though, Ethereum intends to phase out mining entirely in favor of a "proof of stake" system.

Anyone with a good graphics processor may mine Ethereum on their PC today, but it is unlikely to be profitable. Small-scale miners compete with larger companies utilizing sophisticated, specialized hardware, just as they do with ethereum. In 2022, Ethereum mining will be phased out in favor of a technology known as proof of stake.