Ethereum is an open source public blockchain platform with smart contract functionality that provides decentralized Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to handle peer-to-peer contracts through its dedicated cryptocurrency Ethereum (ETH).The concept of Ethereum was first proposed by programmer VitalikButerin between 2013 and 2014, inspired by Bitcoin, with the general meaning of "Next Generation Cryptocurrency and Decentralized Application Platform"
Ethereum is an open source public blockchain platform with smart contract functionality that provides decentralized Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to handle peer-to-peer contracts through its dedicated cryptocurrency Ethereum (ETH).
The concept of Ethereum was first proposed by programmer VitalikButerin between 2013 and 2014, inspired by Bitcoin, with the general meaning of "Next Generation Cryptocurrency and Decentralized Application Platform". It was developed through ICO crowdfunding in 2014.
Currently, Ethereum is the second highest cryptocurrency by market value, second only to Bitcoin.
Speaking of it, the background of Ethereum's emergence is also closely related to Bitcoin.
Bitcoin has pioneered decentralized cryptocurrencies, and over the past five years, it has fully tested the feasibility and security of blockchain technology. The blockchain of Bitcoin is actually a set of distributed databases. If a symbol - Bitcoin is added to it and a protocol is specified to ensure that the symbol can be safely transferred on the database without the need to trust third parties, the combination of these features perfectly constructs a currency transmission system - the Bitcoin network.
However, Bitcoin is not perfect, and the scalability of the protocol is a limitation. For example, there is only one symbol in the Bitcoin network - Bitcoin, and users cannot customize other symbols. These symbols can represent company stocks, debt certificates, etc., which loses some functionality. In addition, the Bitcoin protocol uses a stack based scripting language, which, although flexible enough to enable functions such as multi-signature, is not sufficient to build more advanced applications such as decentralized exchanges. Ethereum is designed to address the issue of insufficient scalability of Bitcoin.
The design of Ethereum includes many principles:
Principle of conciseness
The Ethereum protocol will be as simple as possible, even at the cost of certain data storage and time inefficiencies. An ordinary programmer can also perfectly implement complete development instructions. This will ultimately help reduce the potential impact of any special individual or elite group on the protocol and advance the application prospects of Ethereum as an open protocol for all. Optimization that adds complexity will not be accepted unless they provide very fundamental benefits.
General principles
The absence of 'characteristics' is a fundamental part of Ethereum's design philosophy. Instead, Ethereum provides an internal Turing complete scripting language for users to build any well-defined smart contract or transaction type. To establish a full-scale daemon (Daemon) or Skynet, you may need thousands of interlocking contracts and be sure to generously feed them, anything is possible.
Modular principle
The different parts of Ethereum should be designed as modular and separable as possible. During the development process, it should be easy to make a small change to the protocol while allowing the application layer to continue running normally without any changes. Ethereum development should do these things to the greatest extent possible to benefit the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem, not just itself.
The principle of non discrimination
The protocol should not actively attempt to restrict or hinder specific categories or usage, and all regulatory mechanisms in the protocol should be designed as direct regulatory hazards, and should not attempt to oppose specific unpopular applications. People can even run an infinite loop script on Ethereum, as long as they are willing to pay the transaction cost calculated according to the calculation steps.
Of course, the functionality of Ethereum also has its uniqueness and infinite development space.
Simply put, Ethereum is a platform that provides various modules for users to build applications. If building applications is compared to building houses, Ethereum provides modules such as walls, roofs, and floors. Users only need to build houses like building blocks, thus greatly improving the cost and speed of building applications on Ethereum.
Specifically, Ethereum establishes applications through a Turing complete scripting language (EVM), which is similar to assembly language. We know that programming directly in assembly language is very painful, but programming in Ethereum does not require using EVM language directly, but high-level languages such as C, Python, Lisp, and then converting them into EVM language through compilers.
The applications on the platform mentioned above are actually contracts, which is also the core of Ethereum.
A contract is an automatic agent that lives in the Ethereum system and has its own Ethereum address. When a user sends a transaction to the contract address, the contract is activated. Based on the additional information in the transaction, the contract will run its own code and finally return a result, which may be another transaction sent from the contract address.
It should be pointed out that transactions in Ethereum are not just about sending Ethereum, but it can also embed a considerable amount of additional information. If a transaction is sent to a contract, then this information is very important because the contract will complete its business logic based on this information.
The business that contracts can provide is almost endless, and its boundary is your imagination, because Turing's complete language provides complete freedom for users to build various applications.
However, since its development, there have been many negative controversies in Ethereum.
Market insiders have pointed out that crowdfunding projects on the Ethereum platform still face many risks.
Firstly, Ethereum is not a decentralized digital currency. It exists in giant banks and holds over 80% of the currency value, which remains untouched, equivalent to every coin holder hanging a sharp blade on their head;
Secondly, Ethereum's crowdfunding currency will be lifted in 4-5 rounds, requiring monetization. Therefore, the more crowdfunding projects there are, the greater the pressure on lifting the ban;
The financing effect of the third crowdfunding fund is that each crowdfunding requires a tenfold or hundredfold amount of Ethereum digital currency to wait for financing, rather than participating in transactions. After the crowdfunding ends, this portion of currency will re-enter the market to suppress it;
The participation and profit of the fourth crowdfunding fund, the purpose of which is to make a profit, is not to actively participate in crowdfunding but to sell Ethereum, and then wait for the currency value to decline before returning it to users. This is the standard "short selling profit";
All crowdfunding projects in Ethereum have not established Ethereum's monetary status, but instead offset it in the form of points and transaction taxes, which is equivalent to Taobao and Tmall points. It can be offset but can never replace the function of currency.
Of course, this is only the personal opinion of some people.
What do you think of Ethereum?
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