The Ethereum blockchain went live on July 30th, 2015. Ethereum consists of one blockchain where both its own transactions (ether) and those of numerous other coins (tokens) are recorded. Whereas Bitcoin focuses mainly on payments, Ethereum focuses more on so-called “smart contracts”. The programming language of Ethereum is written in such a way that programmers can write their own programs based on the Ethereum blockchain. This means that if you want to use blockchain technology, you no longer have to create your own. Instead you can use the Ethereum blockchain. This lead to the fact that most of the ICOs are based on the Ethereum blockchain. All projects based on the Ethereum blockchain are in the form of ERC20 tokens.
The history of Ethereum
The Ethereum project started at the end of 2013. Ethereum was developed by researcher and programmer Vitalik Buterin. The budget for the development of Ethereum was raised in July and August 2014 by means of an Initial Coin Offering (ICO). During this ICO 11.9 million ether coins were sold, which is about 13% of the total number of ether coins. On July 30th, 2015, the Ethereum blockchain went live. In 2016, after the failure of the DAO project, a hard fork took place. This fork created the current version of Ethereum and continued the old version under the name Ethereum Classic. The price of one ether was about $0.30 during the ICO. The highest price paid for one ether was, at the time of writing, more than $1400.
Applications of Ethereum
As said in the introduction, other blockchain projects use the Ethereum blockchain to offer their services. The Ethereum blockchain makes it possible to create a binding contract between people without the need for a third party (such as a notary or judge). This application can be of great value in many different industries.
By using the Ethereum blockchain, it is possible to exchange contracts with each other. These contracts no longer need to be drawn up and signed physically but can be shared via the blockchain. This ensures that reliable information can be transferred to each other faster, safer, and cheaper than in previous cases.
A few examples of sectors where the Ethereum blockchain will most likely make a big impact:
Above, we have mentioned some examples, but there are many other projects and more new projects will come. In principle, everything that has value can have its ownership recorded in the Ethereum blockchain.
The Ethereum protocol
The Ethereum blockchain uses the proof of work protocol.
Where can you buy Ethereum?
Before you can buy Ethereum you must first have a place where you can store your Ether coins. Without an Ethereum wallet, you have no place where you can send the purchased coins to. In an Ethereum wallet, you can not only store Ethereum, but also all other Ethereum based digital coins (ERC20 coins). A wallet can be created in four different ways:
- On a crypto exchange (Binance, Bittrex, Bitfinex, etc.)
- By installing software on your computer
- By purchasing a hardware wallet (for example a Ledger Nano S or a Trezor)
- Via an online wallet service
Now that you have a place where you can store Ether you can buy Ether. You can buy Ether in different places:
- On an online exchange
- At an online Broker
- With a cryptocurrency ATM (you can find locations here: coinatmradar.com)
