Understanding Ethereum

What does Ethereum really mean to us? Is it just another cryptocurrency imitating bitcoin or is it just a distributed software platform that can run various applications on a public blockchain? As a software developer, I can assure you that Ethereum is much bigger than how it is currently defined in the standard Wikipedia article.

Take your time to read the following definition. Pause, close your eyes, and think about it. The following definition broadcasts a subtle but very powerful message. It says to us:

Here is a 24/7 computing system, which you can have with zero upfront cost. You can copy it, use it, imitate it, tinker with it, play with it, and tweak it to meet your needs. Not only that, you can invent your own personalized currency with it and offer it whoever is willing to own it. In return, you will provide them with some service, which is permanently defined via a contract on a public ledger, so neither you nor your clients can cheat. Depending on your service, your value will grow, and so will the value of your currency. You, along with your group of clients, will create a mini ecosystem with its own personalized economy independent of any central authority of control. Efficiency will get rewarded, and complacency penalized. So, are you ready?

The preceding interpretation might sound highly audacious and ambitious, but, in reality, this is orders of magnitude less imaginary than sitting during the 1990s and thinking how the internet will disrupt the taxi industry, which apps such as Uber and Ola shoved in our faces two decades later, as shown humorously in Figure 2.1:

So, rather than opposing such disruptive paradigms, we need to embrace the changes. A positive step toward it would be to understand the notion of decentralization and how this applies to Ethereum, which we will tackle in the next section.