Ethereum and its technology

Ethereum is rated as a good crypto currency to work with or explore in the crypto currency world. It is the second largest after Bitcoin and has grown tremendously in just two years causing it to go up in value and was the idea behind most of the other coins that came after.

Released in 2015, its value has gone up has increased by 6,800 per cent since the start of 2017, with one ether which is the currency of Ethereum now standing at almost $480.

Ether is now the third most valuable form of digital currency right after after bitcoin and also has the second largest market value. Its technology called the Ethereum block chain that it runs on was first described by Vitalik Buterin the former programmer at Bitcoin in 2013.

The Technology

Like Bitcoin, Ethereum is a peer to peer decentralized block chain network that is distributed. The two have major technical differences but the biggest of them all is that they have very different purposes and functionality. Bitcoin enables online payment through block chain technology on a peer to peer electronic cash system. This block chain tracks the ownership of the digital currency on a very transparent forum and the Ethereum one’s main focus is to run the code used for programming the application that is decentralized. The block chain also helps miners work to earn Ethereum’s cryptocurrency which is the Ether that is used to run the Ethereum network. Ether’s other uses include paying for transaction fees on its network by the app’s developers.

Smart Contracts

Ethereum gives developers the power to come up with operations that they may need or want. This actually means that they can invigorate so many different applications that are more than we have ever encountered in life. This block chain can do more than we can fathom like building smart contracts that executes on itself by handling the performance, management, payment and also handling of enforcements. Smart contract is a code that aids in the exchange of valuable things like shares, money, content and even property. It’s a computer program that automatically self operates when certain conditions are met. Smart contracts are private and protect developers from fraud, censorship, third party interference or downtime.

The Ethereum Virtual Machine

Ethereum’s core innovation is the Ethereum Virtual Machine that is referred to as EVM. This is a software that is found on the Ethereum network to run it. Anyone can run any program on this network regardless of the programming language used with enough memory and time. EVM enables creation of block chain applications with ease and efficiency than before. Creation of applications is done in one platform as opposed to creating a whole new block chain for every new application.

What can Ethereum be used for?

Ethereum gives developers the ability to build and install decentralized apps. A decentralized application (Dapp) has specific use to the user like electronic payments on a peer to peer electronic cash system with Bitcoin for example. The applications that are decentralized run on a block chain network therefore they are free from any control from governments, banks or the centralized system.

Ethereum is also used to establish Decentralized Autonomous Organizations generally referred to as DAO. DAO is a self-sufficient and decentralized organization with no one controlling it. Decentralized autonomous organizations are run by a programming code on a smart contracts collections that are written on the Ethereum block chain. The code is made in a way that it replaces structure and rules of an organization that has been there traditionally, getting rid of the need to have people to do things and having centralized control. A DAO is owned by anyone who buys the tokens and in place of a token totaling to equity shares and single ownership, they stand for contributions that give people the right to vote.