Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts. Smart contracts are applications that run exactly as programmed, without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or third-party interference. These apps run on a custom built blockchain, an enormously powerful shared global infrastructure that can move value around and represent the ownership of property. That differs greatly from applications today that are run by large, centralized corporations who control your data on servers and in the cloud.
Ethereum aims to democratize the current model and return control of data to its owners.
From its beginning, Ethereum boasted a strong ecosystem. Back in early 2016, it was supported by Microsoft and its 3 million programmers. Eleven major banks from around the world were already testing its network. Then, in February 2017, it launched the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA), formed by JPMorgan, Microsoft, BP, and roughly 30 others. The EEA connects enterprises, start-ups, academics, and technology vendors on all things Ethereum. Its goal is to produce the industry-standard, open-source, free- to-use blockchain solutions that will be the foundation for businesses going forward. Today, the EEA, which started with 30 members, has over 500. Further, reports indicate that Ethereum has more developers building on it than any other platform. Its token stan- dard is called ERC20.
Looking forward, catalysts for Ethereum include improved scalability and new applications being launched on its blockchain.
Regarding scalability, the Ethereum developers are currently working on an improvement called sharding. Sharding introduces parallelization to the network, whereby nodes don’t have to record the entire state of the network, but instead can rely on the information of other nodes. With sharding in place, the Ethereum network will be able to process 1,000 transactions per second. That transaction capacity will be needed as we see more and more applications launch on Ethereum.
Ethereum aims to democratize the current model and return control of data to its owners.
From its beginning, Ethereum boasted a strong ecosystem. Back in early 2016, it was supported by Microsoft and its 3 million programmers. Eleven major banks from around the world were already testing its network. Then, in February 2017, it launched the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA), formed by JPMorgan, Microsoft, BP, and roughly 30 others. The EEA connects enterprises, start-ups, academics, and technology vendors on all things Ethereum. Its goal is to produce the industry-standard, open-source, free- to-use blockchain solutions that will be the foundation for businesses going forward. Today, the EEA, which started with 30 members, has over 500. Further, reports indicate that Ethereum has more developers building on it than any other platform. Its token stan- dard is called ERC20.
Looking forward, catalysts for Ethereum include improved scalability and new applications being launched on its blockchain.
Regarding scalability, the Ethereum developers are currently working on an improvement called sharding. Sharding introduces parallelization to the network, whereby nodes don’t have to record the entire state of the network, but instead can rely on the information of other nodes. With sharding in place, the Ethereum network will be able to process 1,000 transactions per second. That transaction capacity will be needed as we see more and more applications launch on Ethereum.
