Ethereum (ETH) is the native asset of the Ethereum blockchain, an open-source, decentralized Layer-1 protocol that supports smart contracts and decentralized applications.
ETH is used to pay transaction (gas) fees and to secure the network through Proof-of-Stake validator staking. As of 2026-08-31, ETH trades at approximately $2,454.44, with a market capitalization of about $296.2 billion.
Ethereum differentiates itself through a multi-client design, run by multiple independent execution- and consensus-layer clients rather than a single implementation, reducing single-client failure risk.
This diversity, combined with deep liquidity, underpins its role as a primary settlement layer for decentralized finance. As of 2026-08-30, the Ethereum ecosystem held approximately $280.17 billion in total value locked and recorded roughly 438,626 daily active addresses. Institutional demand was reinforced by a $1.42 billion spot ETF inflow streak in August 2026, led largely by BlackRock's ETHA fund.
ETH functions primarily as a utility and network token rather than a governance token, since Ethereum has no on-chain, token-weighted voting for protocol changes.
Ethereum has no maximum supply cap; circulating supply is approximately 120.68 million ETH as of 2026-08-30.
Net issuance follows EIP-1559: base transaction fees are burned, offsetting new ETH issued to Proof-of-Stake validators, so net supply change depends on network activity rather than a fixed schedule.
Ethereum launched via a public token sale held July 22-September 2, 2014, which raised 31,000 BTC (about $18 million at the time) at prices as low as $0.31 per ETH.
The Ethereum Foundation, the coordinating Swiss non-profit, was established in June 2014 ahead of the sale. Mainnet ("Frontier") launched on July 30, 2015, roughly a year after the whitepaper and public announcement — the point ETH became transactable on a live network rather than merely sold.
Ethereum (ETH) runs on its own Layer-1 blockchain, secured by Proof-of-Stake consensus.
No single company operates the chain: validators run independent client software, including execution-layer clients such as Geth, Nethermind, Besu, Erigon, and Reth, and consensus-layer clients such as Prysm, Lighthouse, Nimbus, Teku, Lodestar, and Grandine. This multi-client design avoids reliance on any one implementation for network security.
Ethereum was conceived by Vitalik Buterin (born 1994, Russian-Canadian), who published its whitepaper in 2014 and publicly announced the project at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami in January 2014.
The founding group later expanded from an initial five to eight co-founders, notably including Gavin Wood, who subsequently founded Polkadot.
The Ethereum Foundation, a Swiss non-profit established in June 2014, funds and coordinates protocol research and development but does not own or control the network.
The Foundation underwent significant leadership turnover in 2026: co-executive director Tomasz Stańczak stepped down in February 2026, and co-director Hsiao-Wei Wang resigned in June 2026, amid roughly 19 departures and a budget cut of about 40%. Security researcher Pascal Caversaccio joined the Foundation's board in July 2026.
Ethereum has no on-chain, token-weighted voting for protocol changes; upgrades instead proceed through the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) process.
Core EIPs are debated publicly among independent execution- and consensus-layer client teams on regular "All Core Devs" calls, producing informal "rough consensus" rather than a formal vote. Once client teams agree, an EIP is implemented and scheduled into a coordinated network upgrade. Core EIPs typically take a year or more from drafting to activation.
Ethereum's security relies on continuous multi-client code review rather than a single smart-contract audit, alongside an active bug bounty program. Immunefi runs an Ethereum Protocol Attackathon offering rewards reportedly up to $1.5 million for critical findings.
The formative security incident was The DAO hack of June 2016, in which a reentrancy vulnerability in a third-party contract drained approximately 3.6 million ETH; the community's hard-fork response produced today's Ethereum chain, while the unforked chain continues as Ethereum Classic.