ETHBTC
Ethereum / Bitcoin
crypto

Ethereum is a distributed blockchain computing platform for smart contracts and decentralized applications. Its native token is ether (ETH), which primarily serves as a means of payment for transaction fees and as collateral for borrowing specific ERC-20 tokens within the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. Account-based model Ethereum is an account-based blockchain consisting of external accounts, which are controlled by a user's private keys, and contract accounts, which are managed by contract code. External contracts can create and sign messages to send to both types of accounts, while contract accounts can only execute transactions automatically in response to a message they have received. The latter are what are known as smart contracts and enable the programmability of decentralized applications (dApps). Ethereum Virtual Machine The heart of the Ethereum blockchain is known as the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which is the part of the protocol that executes transactions. It is a Turing complete virtual machine featuring a specific language "EVM bytecode," typically written in a higher-level language called Solidity. Every operation on the EVM requires computational effort and memory. Ethereum node operators and miners provide these scarce resources to application developers and network users in exchange for gas. Different operations require different amounts of gas, and the user can specify how much they are willing to pay in ETH for each unit of gas. The amount of gas required for the transaction, along with the price paid, becomes the transaction cost. Every transaction also had a gas limit to prevent attacks from overloading blocks, which could slow down block production. Developer tools and token standards Ethereum adopted Ethereum Request for Comment (ERC) 20 in late 2015 as a standard for Ethereum smart contracts to issue tokens on the platform. The majority of tokens built on Ethereum are ERC-20 compliant, meaning they follow a standard set of rules defining how they are created and used. Another more popular token rule set is ERC-721 with standardizes the issuance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) where any given token is distinguishable from another making them popular for gaming. Ethereum 2.0 As Ethereum transitions to Eth 2.0, it will undergo significant changes to its design. It will transition from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake and feature a sharding architecture. Currently, nodes must validate every transaction to maintain an updated global state. The new sharding model segments the network into various groups (called shards) and randomly assigns nodes to each shard. Rather than having to monitor the entire chain, nodes only have to validate their respective shard(s). Individual shards shared their transaction details with the Beacon Chain, which acts as the backbone of Ethereum 2.0. The Beacon Chain serves to validate the transactions on each shard, helping the entire network reach consensus. It also identifies dishonest validators and initiates penalties in the form of slashing, in which a portion of a validator's stake is removed from circulation. Eth 2.0 will also replace the EVM with Ethereum WebAssembly (eWASM), which intends to translate coding logic more efficiently and help improve Ethereum's scalability.