What Is Ethereum

Ethereum is a web 3.0 platform for the creation of smart contracts, through a dedicated coding language. Ethereum is decentralized, meaning that no one controls the flow of information and therefore there cannot be any fraud, censorship or third party interference.
These operations are carried out on a dedicated blockchain, a vast and powerful global infrastructure that generates value and ownership. This allows developers to create markets, registers and transfer funds in accord to stipulated agreements (like standard contracts that we use every day), all of this without the need of a middleman.
Ethereum is a crowdfunded project, which came to life in August 2014 thanks to the fans’ support. It was developed by the Ethereum Foundation, a Swiss non profit organisation with the help of the brightest people of the world.
With Ethereum, you can create “smart” contracts, that can virtually resemble any agreement among users. To be transferred or manipulated, these contracts use a currency named Ether. Ether is a cryptocurrency, the “fuel” of the platform. Ethereum platform is not only used to trade currency, but also to transfer Ethereum based contracts. These contracts can be used for operations such as:
-Voting systems
-Financial markets
-Crowdfunding
-Intellectual property
Ethereum platform was published for the first time on July 30th, 2015 and was built with solidity, Ethereum’s programming language.
Through Ethereum anyone can start building what they always dreamt for their lives. It could also serve as a tool for business, which could be enhanced by operating on a decentralized and secure network. In fact, programmers around the world are already developing completely decentralized applications, exploiting the power of Ethereum.
Ether is the required fuel for the correct functioning of the Ethereum platform. It is a sort of payment that the platform’s operators use to make machines do certain operations. To put it in another way, Ether is an incentive for developers to code better their apps (code poorly written is more expensive) and keeps the network healthy.

Ethereum and Bitcoin

Ethereum takes Bitcoin but expands upon it with a series of services that are based on the blockchain platform. Creator Vitalik Buterin states that, compared to Bitcoin, developing in Ethereum is much more linear and brings versatility to the process thanks to smart contracts that are written in a Turing complete programming language.
The debate on Bitcoin’s blocksize is allowing Ethereum to gain a great deal of fans. Ethereum could be a great opportunity, not only for valuable transactions, but also for real world projects. Ethereum is here and it is ready to be used by traders all over the world.