Ethereum is the foundation for a new era of the internet:
An internet where money and payments are built in. An
internet where users can own their data, and your apps don’t spy and steal from
you. An internet where everyone has access to an open financial system. An
internet built on neutral, open-access infrastructure, controlled by no company
or person. Launched in 2015, Ethereum is the world’s leading programmable
blockchain.
Like other blockchains, Ethereum has a native
cryptocurrency called Ether (ETH). ETH is digital money. If you’ve heard of
Bitcoin, ETH has many of the same features. It is purely digital, and can be
sent to anyone anywhere in the world instantly. The supply of ETH isn’t
controlled by any government or company - it is decentralized, and it is
scarce. People all over the world use ETH to make payments, as a store of
value, or as collateral.
But unlike other blockchains, Ethereum can do much more.
Ethereum is programmable, which means that developers can use it to build new
kinds of applications.
These decentralized applications (or “dapps”) gain the
benefits of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. They can be trustworthy,
meaning that once they are “uploaded” to Ethereum, they will always run as
programmed. They can control digital assets in order to create new kinds of
financial applications. They can be decentralized, meaning that no single
entity or person controls them.
