Illustration of a group of people marvelling at an ether (ETH) glyph in awe

ETH is a cryptocurrency. Information technology is deficient digital money that you lot tin employ on the internet – similar to Bitcoin. If you’re new to crypto, here’s how ETH is unlike from traditional money.

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It’south really yours

ETH lets you lot be your own depository financial institution. You tin can control your ain funds with your wallet equally proof of ownership – no third parties necessary.

Secured by cryptography

Internet coin may exist new but information technology’due south secured by proven cryptography. This protects your wallet, your ETH, and your transactions.

Peer-to-peer payments

You tin can ship your ETH without any intermediary service similar a banking company. It’s like handing cash over in-person, but you can practice it securely with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

No centralized control

ETH is decentralized and global. In that location’due south no company or bank that tin determine to print more ETH, or change the terms of apply.

Open to anyone

You but demand an net connection and a wallet to accept ETH. You don’t demand access to a banking company account to accept payments.

Available in flexible amounts

ETH is divisible up to eighteen decimal places so you lot don’t take to purchase 1 whole ETH. Y’all can buy fractions at a time – as little equally 0.000000000000000001 ETH if you want.

Want to buy some Ethereum?

It’s common to mix upwardly Ethereum and ETH. Ethereum is the blockchain and ETH is the primary nugget of Ethereum. ETH is what you’re probably looking to buy.
More on Ethereum
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What’s unique about ETH?

There are many cryptocurrencies and lots of other tokens on Ethereum, but in that location are some things that simply ETH tin exercise.

ETH fuels and secures Ethereum

ETH is the lifeblood of Ethereum. When you lot send ETH or use an Ethereum awarding, you’ll pay a fee in ETH to utilise the Ethereum network. This fee is an incentive for a block producer to process and verify what you’re trying to exercise.

Currently, miners are similar the tape-keepers of Ethereum—they check and prove that no one is cheating, and perform work for the right to propose a block of transactions. Miners who do this work are also rewarded with small amounts of newly-issued ETH.

The work miners do keeps Ethereum secure and free of centralized control. In other words,

ETH powers Ethereum

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Shortly, ETH will get even more important with staking. When you stake your ETH, you lot’ll be able to help secure Ethereum and earn rewards. In this system, the threat of losing their ETH deters attackers.
More on staking

What is Ethereum?

If you’d like to learn more near Ethereum, the technology behind ETH, cheque out our introduction.

Uses for ETH grow every solar day

Because Ethereum is programmable, developers can shape ETH in countless means.

Back in 2015, all you could do was send ETH from i Ethereum account to another. Here are just some of things you tin can do today.

Stream ETH

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pay someone or receive funds in real time.
Swap tokens

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you lot tin can trade ETH with other tokens including Bitcoin.
Earn involvement

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on ETH and other Ethereum-based tokens.
Get stablecoins

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access the globe of cryptocurrencies with a steady, less-volatile value.

Graphic of ETH glyph with a kaleidoscope of cats

Where to get ETH

You tin can get ETH from an exchange or a wallet but different countries have different policies. Check to meet the services that will let you lot buy ETH.

Why does ETH take value?

ETH’s valuable in unlike means to different people.

For users of Ethereum, ETH is valuable because it lets you pay transaction fees.

Others see it as a digital store of value because the creation of new ETH slows downwardly over time.

More recently, ETH has become valuable to users of financial apps on Ethereum. That’southward because you tin can use ETH as collateral for crypto loans, or as a payment organization.

Of form many also come across it equally an investment, like to Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

ETH isn’t the only crypto on Ethereum

Anyone tin can create new kinds of avails and trade them on Ethereum. These are known as ‘tokens’. People have tokenised traditional currencies, their real estate, their art, and fifty-fifty themselves!

Ethereum is home to thousands of tokens – some more useful and valuable than others. Developers are constantly building new tokens that unlock new possibilities and open new markets.