Founded in 2014 by Russian programmer Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum is a platform based on blockchain technology, which allows not only value exchanges, but also the creation and management of smart contracts. The latter represent the true added value of this cryptocurrencies: they are in practice decentralized software that are executed exactly as they are programmed without any external interference, verifying and respecting the negotiations concluded between the contractors for exchanges of money, shares or any other asset. These smart contracts can therefore be used to carry out a great many operations such as electoral systems, intellectual property or domain registration; one of the uses of the platform that have most talked about themselves is the creation of tokens, that is, other digital coins that run on the Ethereum blockchain, used to launch ICO (Initial Coin Offerings), that is a kind of crowfunding for startups.
The operation of smart contracts is paid for in Ether (or Ethereum), which is the cryptocurrency that acts as the "fuel" of the platform, acting both as a means of exchange of value between the actors, and as an incentive for developers to realize good quality applications while keeping the network healthy.
The enormous potential of this innovative technology and its many fields of application have made Ethereum one of the best peer-to-peer coins in circulation, so much so that it has had a big increase in both price and capitalization in the last year. This currency has not gone unnoticed even in the eyes of large companies such as Microsoft, Mastercard or Cisco, which, together with others, have joined a non-profit organization, called the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, aimed at promoting the development of applications based on its blockchain.
As of September 2022, Ethereum completed the transition to the Proof of Stake (PoS) protocol with the update known as The Merge, which permanently replaced Proof of Work (PoW) mining. This change made traditional mining methods for Ethereum obsolete, eliminating the need for graphics cards (GPUs) and other hardware previously used to mine Ether.
Under the new PoS system, validators (no longer miners) are selected to add blocks to the blockchain based on the amount of Ether they have staked. To become a validator on Ethereum, you need to stake at least 32 ETH in the protocol. This move to PoS has dramatically reduced the energy consumption of the Ethereum network and eliminated the need for expensive equipment, making the validation process more accessible and sustainable.
There are other methods besides faucets and mining to receive Ethereum for free, i.e. Get Paid To sites such as the one listed below.
Through EarnCrypto you can accumulate many Gwei ETH by watching videos, completing surveys or installing mobile applications.
Website | Type | Tasks | Minimum payout |
Payment | Referral | Earn |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rewardy | Paid to Listen |
|
2000 points | Direct Wallet | 5% | earn ethereum |
Bucksify | GPT (Get Paid To) |
|
50000 BXT | Direct Wallet | 10% | earn ethereum |
EarnCrypto | GPT (Get Paid To) |
|
No minimum after 40 points | Direct Wallet | 10% | earn Ethereum |
As Ethereum is one of the most important cryptocurrencies, there are indeed many wallets that can be used to store it, in addition to the official one. Among the desktop wallets are Metamask and Exodus in particular, while among the dedicated online wallets there is MyEtherWallet: these are all portals that also support the ERC20 tokens of the Ethereum platform.
Particularly suitable for their convenience are multicoin online wallets, such as those indicated below, as they allow simplified use, accessible from multiple devices through the browser and several additional services, such as faucets and internal exchanges.
Wallet | Cryptocurrencies | Device | Security | Fees | Additional services |
get wallet |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
variable |
|
wallet Ethereum |
Ethereum is one of the most solid and promising projects in the cryptocurrency world, so it lends itself better to long-term investments, given its constantly growing trend.
Trading Ethereum can, however, have advantages even in the short term if you are able to take advantage of the great volatility inherent in all cryptos. Below we propose, therefore, some of the best exchanges for Ethereum, which allow you to exchange it with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Exchange | Currencies | Pros and Cons | Fees | Minimum trading |
trade now |
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ETH, BTC, LTC, BCH and more |
|
Deposit Fee No Withdr. Fee No Trading Fee -1% |
ETH/USD 0.059 ETH |
trade ethereum |
|
ETH, BTC, LTC, BCH + 100 more |
|
Deposit Fee No Withdr. Fee Yes Trading Fee 0.1% |
BTC/USDT 0.001 BTC |
trade ethereum |
|
ETH, USD, BTC, BCH + 350 more |
|
Deposit Fee Yes Withdr. Fee Yes Trading Fee 0.2% |
ETH/BTC 10000 sat BTC |
trade ethereum |
|
ETH, BTC, USDT, EUR + 100 more |
|
Deposit Fee Yes Withdr. Fee Yes Trading Fee 0.1% |
ETH/BTC 0.001 ETH ETH/USDT 0.001 ETH |
trade ethereum |