Ethereum, launched in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin and a team of developers, is a decentralized blockchain platform known for its smart contract functionality. Unlike Bitcoin, which primarily serves as a digital currency, Ethereum enables developers to build and deploy decentralized applications (dApps) and execute smart contracts—self-executing contracts with the terms directly written into code.

Ether (ETH) is the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network, used to pay for transaction fees and computational services on the platform. Ethereum has become the backbone of the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector and the non-fungible token (NFT) market, facilitating a wide range of applications from financial services to digital art.