What is the value of Ethereum
Ethereum is more effective than pure cryptocurrency. Through Ethereum, users can create any decentralized application (i.e. DApp) and smart contract. Theoretically, programmable Ethereum can be used for any economic or governance activities.
In Ethereum, you can manage digital assets and run programs by writing code. More importantly, all these are not restricted by regions.
Ethereum has opened a door for the global financial system. Users can access applications, products and services in a trusted way through the Internet. Everyone can interact with the Ethereum network and participate in this form of digital economy in person, without the need for a third party.
People can use smart contracts to raise funds for projects, companies can use smart contracts to issue stocks on the blockchain, banks and other financial institutions can use it to manage loan receipt and delivery, insurance companies can use it to achieve automatic claims settlement, and so on. Even any existing financial transactions can be transformed to the blockchain, which is the credit of the blockchain.
Through the governance applications and systems on the Ethereum platform, it is even possible to remove barriers caused by borders between countries and create a more open, inclusive and equitable human society.
What is the difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin
Similar to Bitcoin, Ethereum also uses the POW mechanism to generate new Ethereum through mining by miners. The difference is that Ethereum is a programmable blockchain that allows anyone to create a decentralized APP, write smart contracts and issue their own digital currency.
Different from the currency definition of Bitcoin, Ethereum has released the unprecedented potential of blockchain. Through a series of redesigns, including virtual machines (EVM, Ethereum Virtual Machine) and account systems, it can run smart contracts on them. The concept of smart contract was put forward by Nick Szabo in 1997, that is, the form of automatic contract.
Over the years, although Bitcoin protocol has also supported smart contracts, smart contracts have become popular with Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum.
How to use Ethereum?
Similar to Bitcoin transfer, Ethereum is indispensable for transactions in the Ethereum network. Ethereum is the original currency of Ethereum network. This is a digital currency similar to Bitcoin issued in Ethereum.
You can obtain Ethereum through the following channels:
Purchase Ethereum at a cryptocurrency exchange
Exchange Ethereum with people near you
Obtain Ethereum through mining
In addition, similar to Bitcoin wallet, you also need an Ethereum wallet to store Ethereum. There are various Ethereum wallets on the market, and many Ethereum based applications can be used.
Ethereum users can store Ethereum in Ethereum wallets or interact with smart contracts on Ethereum networks. Many wallets have these features. Wallet is an application program that can conveniently save and transmit ETH, and interact with applications built on Ethereum through the wallet.
Every transaction in the Ethereum network requires a certain amount of gas. Gas is a unit used to measure the computing power required to process transactions. To help verify the information, it is necessary to pay the cost of computing to process the transaction and package it in the block, which should be compensated accordingly. In the Ethereum system, this is accomplished by setting the gas price in each transaction. The gas unit is Gwei (1 ETH=1000000000 Gwei).
For example, it takes 21000 gas for a user to send ETH from one account to another. If the gas price is set to 1 Gwei, the transaction will cost 0.000021 ETH.
