Ethereum is a blockchain platform that lets people not only send digital money, but also run programs and applications on a decentralized network. Think of it as:

> Bitcoin = digital money

Ethereum = digital money + decentralized apps

🔹 Key parts of Ethereum

🔸️Ether (ETH) – The cryptocurrency used to pay fees and transactions on the Ethereum network.

🔸️Smart contracts – Self-executing programs that automatically run when conditions are met (no middlemen).

🔸️Decentralized – No single company or government controls it.

🔹 What makes Ethereum different from Bitcoin?

🔸️Bitcoin Ethereum

Mainly digital money Programmable blockchain

Simple transactions Smart contracts & apps

Fixed supply (21M) No hard cap (but controlled issuance)

🔹 What can you build or do on Ethereum?

🧠 Smart contracts

🪙 DeFi (decentralized finance: lending, trading, earning interest)

🎨 NFTs

🎮 Blockchain games

🏛️ DAOs (decentralized organizations)

🔹 How does Ethereum work today?

🔸️Ethereum uses Proof of Stake (since 2022), which is more energy-efficient than Bitcoin’s mining system.

🔸️Validators secure the network by staking ETH.

🔹 Who created Ethereum?

Proposed in 2013 by Vitalik Buterin, and launched in 2015.

🔹 Simple analogy

🔸️Bitcoin is like digital gold.

🔸️Ethereum is like a global computer anyone can use.

$ETH

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