Ethereum revolutionized the blockchain by enabling developers to create smart contracts, self-executable programs which process transactions automatically when preset conditions were met. Also, Ethereum enables the development of decentralized applications on the blockchain. Ethereum was launched in 2014 as an open-source platform by Vitalik Buterin along with Gavin Wood, Charles Hoskinson, Anthony Di Lorio and Joseph Lubin.
Ethereum expanded the reach of the blockchain technology which was previously limited to payment systems. Ethereum is a second-generation blockchain and aims to become the “world computer” by replacing the client-server technology with nodes on the blockchain. Ethereum’s capability of hosting applications gave rise to many new tokens on the platform.
Ether is the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain and goes with the ticker ETH. Ethereum uses the Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm for confirming transactions and securing the network. Ether is issued through mining and can be used by the developers to pay for the developing, hosting applications and also to process transactions.