Explain Ethereum (ETH) in an easy-to-understand way: its characteristics, update history, and future prospects.
When you think of cryptocurrency, among major coins like Bitcoin and Ripple, there is one currency that must not be forgotten.
Yes, Ethereum (Ethereum)!
To state the conclusion first: Bitcoin and Ethereum are both cryptocurrencies, but they have completely different properties.
Moreover, Ethereum’s updates are divided into four stages, and the more updates you undergo, the higher the performance of this cryptocurrency becomes.
In addition, Ethereum is a cryptocurrency that can include not only transaction data but also contract content on the blockchain.
So, why is the world so captivated by Ethereum? This article provides a thorough explanation, so please use it as a reference.
What Ethereum (ETH) is / Purpose
Ethereum itself is not the name of a currency, but a platform that is provided as a whole to realize the Ethereum Projectthat is required for its realization.
The currency used within this is called Ether (ETH), and since many people treat Ethereum as a currency, we will also express Ethereum as a currency here.
Ethereum is,Bitcoin, the virtual currency with the second to third largest market capitalization, and was developed by Vitalik Buterin starting in 2013 and began trading in Japan around 2015.
Ethereum has long held the second place in market cap, but currently competes withRipple.
Please see the details below.
>>>Why did Ethereum fall to the third place in market capitalization?
Fundraising and development for the Ethereum Project are conducted by the Ethereum Foundation, a Swiss nonprofit organization.
Development continues to this day, but there is no central authority that manages Ethereum.
In Ethereum, rather than using a blockchain provided by Bitcoin, it equips a language that isTuring-complete, capable of encompassing any algorithm, on a new blockchain.
This aims to form the foundation for smart contracts that automate contracts.
Features of Ethereum (ETH)
In Ethereum, it’s not only about recording transaction data on the blockchain like Bitcoin, but also about embedding contract data on the blocks.
By recording not only transaction data but also the sequence of contract interactions over time on the blockchain, tampering with contracts becomes impossible.
Therefore, a central authority to guarantee contract contents is unnecessary.
In other words, Bitcoin and Ethereum have entirely different functions as cryptocurrencies.
History of Ethereum Hard Forks (Updates)
In Bitcoin hard forks, consensus could not be reached within the community, leading to disagreements.
However, Ethereum’s hard forks are different from Bitcoin’s; they are upgrades carried out with a certain level of consensus within the community.
The four-stage hard forks planned for the future are as follows.
・Frontier Update
・Homestead Update
・Metropolis Update
・Serenity Update
Update 1: Frontier
The first update was the Frontier Update conducted in July 2015.
It implemented experimental basic functionalities of Ethereum and fixed bugs in implemented features.
Update 2: Homestead
The next update was the Homestead Update in March 2016.
With this update, Ethereum evolved into a more secure platform.
And at this point, transactions using the base currency Ether (ETH) began, and a large amount of Ether token trading occurred.
However, during this update, a project built on Ethereum’s platform called The DAO was attacked.
As a result, as an emergency measure, a hard fork was performed in July 2017, leading to a split between Ethereum andEthereum Classic.
Update 3: Metropolis
The third stage update is a hard fork consisting of two updates:
・Byzantium
・Constantinople
Among these, Byzantium was implemented in October 2017, but Constantinople’s implementation has been postponed to after 2019 due to issues found that would halt processing.
In Byzantium, preparations for moving from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) were made.PoW, andPoSions.
Update 4: Serenity
Serenity is currently considered the final stage of updates.
This update is said to bring safety to the Ethereum project, and after this update, the move from PoW to PoS is planned to be implemented.
After transitioning to the Serenity update, a platform for security-based decentralized applications is expected to be formed.
For details on Serenity, please see below.
>>>What is Serenity? Ethereum’s capacity could increase 1000x, and future prices may surge!
List of Japanese Exchanges Where Ethereum (ETH) Can Be Purchased
In domestic cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan, Ethereum is almost purchasable,
Currently, the Japanese exchanges where Ethereum can be purchased are as follows.
There are places that offer only sales... Continue here below
