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Blockchain Glossary

Glossary

Ethereum

A Layer-1 blockchain with a built-in virtual machine (the EVM) that executes smart contracts, launched in 2015 and the dominant platform for DApps.

Ethereum extended Bitcoin's idea by embedding a Turing-complete virtual machine (the EVM) inside the chain itself. Anyone can deploy a smart contract — a program with its own address, balance, and storage — and anyone else can call it by sending a transaction.

The native asset is ETH, used to pay gas fees and (since the 2022 Merge) to secure the network via proof-of-stake. Most stablecoins, DEXes, lending protocols, and NFT markets are deployed on Ethereum or on chains that copy its execution model.