What Is Ethereum And Why Is It Important?
Not too long ago if you wanted to create a decentralized app (Dapp) you had to be a mad genius.
You no longer need to know coding, cryptography, mathematics and have tons of resources at your beckon call. I'm not saying that there aren't geniuses or people out there with all the know how creating smart contracts because there are. However because of one prodigy, Vitalik Buterin, it's much easier.
Vitalik is a 26 year old Russian-Canadian programer. He can be seen as a child in grade school coding on an old mac computer. The kind of computer that people take up to the mountains and use as target practice now. He is a co-founder of Bitcoin Magazine and more popularly know as the co-founder of the Ethereum network.
So What Is Ethereum
Keep in mind that the goal for Ethereum is to create a truly decentralized internet.
Ethereum is a public software that provides the tools developers need to build decentralized applications using blockchain technology. So I get that is a mouthful so I'm going to break it down for you a little more. I can barley grasp that and I wrote it! Buterin created a platform kind of like a app store where people can onboard their blockchain projects. He also created a language called Solidity that the projects need to be written in. When someone creates a program and sends it to Ethereum the Ethereum network of thousands of computers makes sure it is executed.
Lets say for example that you want to create a Dapp. You could learn Solidity and code out the smart contract. You would then send it to Ethereum's network and it would be available for others to interact with.
So again in a way it is like the internet where you build a software or site and it takes that code and executes it. While Ethereum and Bitcoin both use blockchain technology and are both decentralized they serve different purposes. Bitcoin is like electronic cash in a sense while Ethereum runs decentralized code that is uploaded there. Again here are thousands of computers running the Ethereum platform making it completely decentralized like bitcoin.
Why Is This Important
Ethereum is now the second largest crypto as far as market cap.
Since the birth of this amazing public platform the number of new projects has exploded. It has made it easier for developers and entrepreneurs to build their smart contracts on the blockchain. It has helped expand horizons and possibilities for people who need the platform. With more smart contracts being deployed we are slowly eliminating third parties and as a result making contracts much cheaper. The more decentralized the world becomes the more transparent and secure things get.
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