All About Ethereum
7 likes6,816 views
Ethereum is the largest decentralized platform enabling the development of smart contracts and decentralized applications on a blockchain, which ensures transparency and security. Ether, the platform's cryptocurrency, is used for transactions and computation on the network and is highly volatile. The document compares Ethereum to Bitcoin, highlighting key differences such as hashing algorithms, transaction speeds, and block reward structures.
All About Ethereum
- 1. Ethereum The Future of Decentralized Apps
- 2. About Ethereum Project Ethereum is the largest decentralized software platform that allows you to build smart contracts and decentralized applications without any downtime and without any third party interference. It forms a decentralized and Peer-to-Peer network where all the applications run on a public ledger called blockchain. Blockchain also provides transparency to the users and prevents the network from various fraudulent attempts and hackers looming around the internet.
- 3. What Is A Blockchain? A blockchain public ledger that keeps a shared record of all the transactions distributed over a vast network of users. It is truly decentralized network and doesn’t require any intermediate system for the exchange of services.
- 4. A blockchain is comprised of a series of data blocks wherein each block stores a small patch of transactions made by the users. All these data blocks are chained together electronically using a top-tier form of cryptography. Thus, all the blocks together form a permanent and tamper-proof public record of each and every transaction happened in the network. In a blockchain, every user is connected in such a way that his/her data is made visible to every other user in that blockchain without revealing their identity. To make it more simple, blockchain provides a total transparency to the users. How Blockchain Works?
- 5. A Smart Contract is basically a computer protocol that enforces the negotiation between two exchanging parties. it more simple, it makes up a contractual clause between two parties. It automatically verifies the contract and executes the agreed terms. Ethereum is the largest decentralized platform that allows you to build unlimited Smart Contracts using Command line Smart Contract
- 6. Decentralized Applications An application will be called Decentralized if it incorporates following features: ★ The application must be completely open-source, it must operate autonomously, and with no entity controlling the majority of its tokens. ★ The application's data and records of operation must be cryptographically stored in a public, decentralized blockchain in order to avoid any central points of failure. ★ The application must use a cryptographic token which is necessary for access to the application. ★ The application must generate tokens according to a standard crytptographic algorithm acting as a proof of the value nodes are contributing to the application
- 7. Ether, The Fuel For Ethereum Ether is the digital token used by Ethereum. It is also used to pay transaction fees and other computational services on the Ethereum Network. Ether is also used as a cryptocurrency and is traded on various exchanges just like bitcoin. It is the second most popular cryptocurrency in the world and has a market capitalisation of 950 million USD. The price of Ether token is also volatile just like other cryptocurrencies and it keeps fluctuating every minute.
- 8. Ether Wallet Ether wallet is a virtual wallet, basically a mobile or web application that lets you store your ether tokens. An Ether Wallet also provides several other facilities like sending your ethers to another wallet address or receiving ethers from outside sources. You can also keep a track of all your transactions. Many wallet providers have also released web browser extensions of their respective wallets and some are going to release a hardware version as well which will be a USB stick that you can plug into any computer.
- 9. How New Ether Tokens Are Created? The process of discovering and producing new ether tokens is called Mining. Ether mining is very similar to the bitcoin mining except for the block halving and rewarding scheme offered to the miners. The person who mines or produces an ether, bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency is called Miner. The miners solve complex mathematical problems on their computers using advanced software tools and dedicated hardware chips called ASICs. The main idea is to create a new block which gets added to the existing blockchain. Each block contains a list of all the recent transactions happened within the bitcoin network.
- 10. Ethereum Virtual Machine is a computer software which runs at an abstraction layer straight above the underlying hardware. Ethereum uses a Turing Complete Virtual Machine for running and compiling the codes. For this reason, Ethereum Virtual Machine is also called Turing Complete Virtual Machine. The term “Turing Complete” flaunts that this software is adroit enough to run any code defined by the developer or user. Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)
- 11. Solidity, The Language Behind Ethereum Solidity is one of the two main programming languages that are specifically designed to target the Ethereum Virtual Machine or EVM. The other one is Serpent. All the Ethereum based applications and Smart Contracts are written in Solidity. Solidity was initially proposed in August 2014 by Dr. Gavin Wood and it was later developed by the Ethereum project's Solidity team, lead by Dr. Christian Reitweissner.
- 12. Solidity vs JavaScript Solidity uses a whole new framework but it is very similar to the popular JavaScript. Some points of difference between the two are given below.: ★ Solidity is kind of an Object Oriented (OO) language just like C++ and C#, whereas Javascript is based on HTML. ★ Solidity is designed specifically for Ethereum applications and it runs only on the Ethereum blockchain whereas JavaScript is a universal language for the web and is being used in a large number of applications. ★ In case of solidity, the final result is available on every node within the blockchain network. In contrast to this, the result is only available on a single node in case of JavaScript.
- 13. Ethereum vs Bitcoin One of the main reasons of Ethereum increasing popularity is its constant comparison with bitcoin. Although Ethereum is built on bitcoin protocol, there are many differences between the two. ★ Both Ethereum and bitcoin use different hashing algorithms. While Bitcoin uses SHA-256 algorithm that produces a number in hexadecimal format, Ethereum uses Ethash algorithm. ★ Ethereum uses a Ghost Protocol that fends off the use of centralized pool mining. Whereas bitcoin still employs the pool mining concept.
- 14. ★ The pre-set block time in Bitcoin is 10 minutes whereas in Ethereum, the block time is of 12 seconds. So consequently, while bitcoin transactions normally take a few minutes to be cleared, the Ethereum transactions are cleared almost instantly and in matter of seconds. ★ Ethereum uses a Turing Complete programming language and a Turing Complete internal code owing to which almost anything can be calculated by just providing sufficient computing power and a particular time period. ★ Bitcoin block rewards halve every 4 years whilst Ethereum releases the same amount of Ether each year ad infinitum. Ethereum vs Bitcoin Contd.
- 15. Other Projects Similar To Ethereum Maidsafe Counterparty Lisk Rootstock Tauchain
- 16. MAIDSAFE MaidSafe (Massive Array of Internet Disks - Secure Access For Everyone) is an open-source program that enables a decentralized internet platform. Instead of specialized servers, data is stored and distributed by a network of internet-connected computers supplied by network users. MaidSafe handles the allocation of hard disk space and communication between the computers. Data stored on the network is either encrypted or cryptographically signed by MaidSafe-connected applications. The network itself cannot decrypt any of the data. Users providing storage space, cpu power and bandwidth to the network earn Safecoin, a digital currency that can be used to store information on the network
- 17. Counterparty Counterparty is an innovative platform for peer-to-peer markets and financial instruments. Unlike Wall Street and other centralized financial institutions, Counterparty provides open, secure financial tools and markets that do not require a trusted third party or middleman to use. Counterparty aims to decentralize and democratize finance in the same way the Internet itself has done with creation and sharing of information. The platform is built on top of Bitcoin, and extends the functionality of the Bitcoin network in new and unprecedented ways. With Counterparty, anyone with an Internet connection gains access to financial instruments that were previously cost prohibitive or not available at all.
- 18. Lisk is the first DAPP platform which encompasses the concept of sidechains to extend the scalability of the system without undermining the overall speed and performance. But now the question arises, What exactly is a sidechain? And what’s the benefit of using a sidechain? To be precise, sidechain is an independent cryptographic ledger that is linked directly to the main blockchain without jeopardizing its speed and performance. Sidechains are developed solely to enhance the scalability of the existing blockchain network. Each sidechain is customizable and they are protected by a group of 101 master nodes. These master nodes use the same proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism as used by the parent Lisk network. Lisk
- 19. Rootstock Rootstock is the first open-source smart contract platform with a 2-way peg to Bitcoin that also rewards the Bitcoin miners via merge-mining, allowing them to actively participate in the Smart Contract revolution. RSK goal is to add value and functionality to the Bitcoin ecosystem by enabling smart-contracts, near instant payments and higher-scalability. RSK can scale far beyond Bitcoin in its current state. RSK scales to 100 transaction per second (same level as Paypal) without sacrificing decentralization and reducing storage and bandwidth usage using probabilistic verification and fraud proofs, as well as blockchain sharding techniques.
- 20. Tauchain Tauchain or simply T-chain is yet another project that aims to foster the use of P2P network having three unified faces, i.e Rules, Proofs and Computer programs. The Tauchain developers claim that Ethereum’s Turing Complete nature is not taking the users to a right direction. Ethereum’s present model essentially requires a crypto asset or digital coin known as Ether but Tauchain doesn’t need it. The Tauchain users can agree on certain economic characteristics of the network. The users can outline any kind of incentive over their local Tau client.