Ethereum’s price has risen 99% over the past 30 days
What is Ethereum?
Ethereum is a global open-source platform for decentralized applications. It supports smart contracts that allow developers to write code to run decentralized apps. Common examples of applications built on Ethereum include ERC-20 tokens, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized finance (DeFi) apps, lending protocols, and decentralized exchanges.
Ethereum has seen significant growth this year—reaching an all-time high of $4,324—which in percentage terms has outpaced even Bitcoin. Over the past 30 days alone, Ethereum’s price has climbed by 99%. Five years ago, a single Ether traded for around $0.43, which in hindsight would have been an extraordinary buying opportunity.
Reuters has suggested that this price rally is driven by fundamental developments: growing institutional interest and increasing adoption of decentralized finance applications within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Ethereum often describes itself as the world’s programmable blockchain. It was launched in 2015 by its creator, Vitalik Buterin, with an initial supply distributed at the network’s genesis. The native currency of the network is called Ether (ETH); the name Ethereum refers to the platform and project as a whole.
Where can I buy Ethereum?
How is Ethereum different from Bitcoin?
Ethereum and Bitcoin share some similarities, such as early reliance on proof-of-work and the ability to be traded on cryptocurrency exchanges. Key differences include block times and issuance rules: Ethereum’s blocks are validated roughly every 12 seconds, whereas Bitcoin’s blocks are validated about every 10 minutes. Bitcoin has a hard cap of 21 million coins; Ethereum does not have a fixed supply limit. Additionally, Ethereum was designed from the start to support programmable smart contracts and decentralized applications, while Bitcoin was created primarily as a peer-to-peer digital currency.