What is Ethereum?
The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) a Turing complete system which runs on the Ethereum Network. The EVM provides programmers with the tools to build such decentralized applications, in a similar way wordpress gives bloggers the tools to create dynamic blogs & websites.
Although both are independent decentralized applications (i.e Cryptocurrencies) of their own, there is still lots of difference between them as both runs on a different Blockchains.
The main difference is that Bitcoin I a peer to peer electronic cash system that offers just this particular application which uses the Bitcoin Blockchain to track ownership of digital currency (bitcoins, BTC), while the Ethereum Blockchain focuses on helping other developers to build decentralized applications by providing tools to the programmers and runs their codes ob the EVM.
In the Ethereum Blockchain miners work to earn Ether a crypto token that fuels the network. Apart from it being tradable, it's also used by developers to pay for transaction fees and services on the Ethereum Network.
2013
A then 19 years old Russian Cryptocurrency researcher and programmer Vitalik Buterin proposed the development in 2013 and was described in a white paper by Vitalik who was involved with Bitcoin Magazine.
He believed that Bitcoin needed a scripting language for application development which led him to his proposal of a general scripting language.
2014
Early this year, formal development of Ethereum began and a team of 4 persons led by Vitalik made public the announcement of Ethereum. Funding was gotten through an online public crowdsale between July and August 2014, with participants buying the Ethereum value token "Ether" with Bitcoins.
In September 2014 Ether (Ethereum Currency) was distributed to the investors and development team while others went to the Ethereum foundation.
2015-2016
The software went live on 30th July 2015 with 72 million pre-mined Ether coins.
In 2016 following a flaw in the Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) project Smart Contract software was hacked, that led to the theft of $50 million worth of Ether, causing Ethereum to split into two separate Blockchains. The new version became Ethereum (ETH) with the theft reversed while the original continued as Ethereum Classic (ETC).
2017-2018
The year 2017 was a blessed year for all cryptocurrency investors and Ethereum was not left out as Ether grew to it's peak of $1,400 in 2017. Due to the downtime in the crypto world in 2018 Ether dropped down to about $200 by September 2018. We are still optimistic about its increase come 2019.
No comments