The internal network currency for Ethereum is called Ether.
When was it created?
Ethereum was created by Vitalik Buterin, a cryptocurrency researcher and programmer, in 2013. Development of the Ethereum was funded by an online crowdsale. The system went live on 30 July 2015.
How is it different from Bitcoin?
Just like Bitcoin, Ethereum is a public blockchain network, but there are some significant technical differences between the two. Bitcoin and Ethereum also differ massively in purpose and capability. While the Bitcoin network provides one particular application of blockchain technology, a peer to peer electronic system that enables online Bitcoin payments, Ethereum blockchain focuses on running the programming code of any decentralised application.
Transaction fees differ by computational complexity, bandwidth use, and storage needs, unlike bitcoin network, where the main criteria is transaction size in bytes.
Can it be mined?
Yes, Ether is created through the process of mining at a rate of 5 ether per mined block. It is much easier to mine Ether than it is to mine Bitcoin.
When the Ethereum network was launched, 11.9 million coins had already been "premined" for the crowdsale. This accounts for about 13 percent of the total circulating supply.
How can it be used?
While all blockchains have the ability to process code, most are severely limited, but Ethereum allows developers to build any applications they want even if they go way beyond anything we have seen before.
What is an Ethereum token?
Ethereum is not just a digital currency system, but also a platform for other applications to be built. There are two types of digital assets within the Ethereum network. A “coin” — Ether — is used within the network and a “token” used within an application. The difference between these tokens and a standalone cryptocurrency is that ERC20 tokens use the Ethereum network, hosted by Ethereum addresses and sent using Ethereum transactions, instead of developers having to build an entirely new blockchain.
ERC20 is a set of standards created for applications built on the Ethereum network. To comply with ERC20, an application must have certain types of functions that would allow it to communicate with other applications.
Ethereum tokens can represent anything from national currencies to physical objects. In the future, tokens may even be used to represent financial instruments like stocks and bonds.
What are the advantages of Ethereum?
Ethereum is very safe, being almost impossible for a third party to make changes to any data.
Ethereum can be used for fundraising with the use of smart contracts for various projects.
Transaction fees are generally much lower for ether than for Bitcoin.
The algorithm that is used to mine Ether tokens is called “ proof of work” and successfully prevents hacker attacks.
Ethereum enables developers to build various decentralised applications on top of the existing network.
If you would like to learn more, check out this awesome Cryptopay Learn article about Ethereum.
For more information, we recommend visiting the official website: https://www.ethereum.org/
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