Ethereum is a decentralized open source blockchain with smart contract compatibility. It was conceived in 2013 by Vitalik Buterin and launched in 2015. It has since seen huge growth and adoption and sits as the second most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Ethereum is seen as the king of DEFI because it is home to a good number of decentralized applications.
Some fun facts you probably didn’t know about Ethereum include;
CHECK OUT: HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW ETHEREUM QUIZ
1. Ethereum is the network while Ether is the currency
A lot of persons do not really know this and still refer to the native currency of the platform as Ethereum. Ethereum refers to the blockchain while Ether is the native currency of the blockchain.
Ethereum is typically a decentralized open source blockchain on which decentralized applications can be built. Unlike Bitcoin, the Ethereum blockchain is home to a good number of decentralized applications and has been the primary blockchain driving the world of decentralized finance. The Bitcoin blockchain does not have smart contract compatibility hence does not support the development of dApps.
Ether on the other hand being the native currency of the Ethereum blockchain serves as gas for transactions on the network. With it’s wide adoption, Ether sits as the second most valuable cryptocurrency.
2. Ether was not always the second most valuable cryptocurrency
Many crypto newbies met Ether’s value second only to bitcoin. Many would think it has always been this way but that’s not true. Before Ether began to make waves, we had litecoin ranking after bitcoin.
Ethereum was able to displace litecoin and other top ranking cryptocurrencies due to it’s utility and wide adoption.
3. There is no max supply for Ether
Unlike bitcoin which has a maximum supply of 21 million, one of the facts to note is that Ether has no max supply. The only limitation to Ether mining is that only a maximum of 18 million Ether can be mined per year. This makes it a better mining alternative compared to bitcoin for people who want to continue making steady income.
CHECK OUT: HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH CRYPTOCURRENCIES
4. It was co-founded by a millenial
Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum was born in 1994. He came up with the idea in 2013 when he was just 19 years old. He presented it to Dr. Gavin Wood who bought the vision and co-founded the network with Vitalik.
5. Ethereum is transitioning to Proof of Stake
Initially making use of the proof of work consensus mechanism, the Ethereum network has announced that it will be transitioning to the proof of stake model.
With this transition, the network will be able to accommodate an increased number of transactions at same time and this will also make the gas fee friendlier.
One downside of this transition is that income made by miners may be tampered with.
