Ethereum
Ethereum is a public, programmable blockchain. Like other blockchains, it records transactions on a shared ledger that no single party controls. What sets it apart is support for smart contracts, which are programs that run on the network and execute automatically when their conditions are met.
Its native token is ether, often written as ETH. People use ether to pay the network fees required to send transactions and run smart contracts. Anyone can deploy code to Ethereum, and that code is public and open for others to inspect and interact with.
Because of this flexibility, Ethereum hosts a large share of the stablecoins and decentralized finance protocols in use today. It carries risk. Smart contracts can contain bugs, network fees can rise when demand is high, and the price of ether moves with the wider market.
Related terms: Blockchain · Smart contract · DeFi
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