What is Ethereum? – Master of Accounting Degrees

If you needed to, what would you guess “Ethereum” is? It’s not a medicine, and it’s not a chemical either. If you’re all out of guesses, then read on, and we’ll take a look at what this emerging cryptocurrency is really all about.

Digital Assets

As alluded to above, Ethereum is a type of cryptocurrency, or digital asset. For those who may have heard of its competing big-brother, Bitcoin, this is much the same concept. More correctly, “Ether” is the actual subject of digital exchange and trade offered by the platform.

Ether, run on its namesake platform, Ethereum, is a decentralized, public digital currency run on blockchain. Blockchain is a sort of digital distributive ledgering method for money transactions and the recording of them. As it is an open commodity, anyone can thus purchase or invest in Ether. It is important to note, though, that Ether, like all other digital currencies, is not a material or tangible currency, but rather a purely digital one.

Place in Market

For those curious as to its serious contention in the emerging markets of digital currency, Ether has quickly become a major player. Several countries have begun to allow it as a legal exchange currency. In most other places, it remains completely unregulated and thus free to use.

Beyond basic statements such as these, though, the proof is certainly in the numbers. Since its original introduction on the market in mid-2015, it has seen a share value increase from $8 per unit, to today’s $309 per unit. Even for the mathematically challenged, these are considerable gains for such a brief span of time.

The Enterprise Alliance

Beyond providing just a new form of digital currency, Ether, and the promise of its continued and further conventionalized use in society have spawned a major organized group referred to as The Ethereum Enterprise Alliance. This alliance is composed of an ever-growing list of names in the whos-who of tech and industry companies. Membership is essentially a complete nod of trust, faith, and active pursuits in the use of Ether for a future means of common exchange. To date, Toyota, Microsoft, Mitsubishi, Merck, and many others have joined the alliance.

Crowdsaling

An additional perk to using this particular digital asset is the ability to “crowdsale” which comes with it. Basically, crowdsaling is a way to summon together a group of people with an intended goal as well as offer payment for their work. You can then crowdsale a job offer for building a new website, for example, which will, in turn, draw in people wanting to do that job, in return, for pay.

The special part of Ether is that in crowdsaling, the Ether funds are essentially attached to the contract for that work, only releasing once the work has been completed. In other words, you can pay with Ether as well as setup attached stipulations for its release to the payee. It is therefore an entire recorded transaction, contract and all, as opposed to just the exchange of money on some digital platform.

For those interested in investment opportunities or even just new forms of digital currency, Ethereum is a great platform of which to take note. While no one truly knows the future, so far, it is looking quite promising for this emerging cryptocurrency. These are the basics of Ethereum, or Ether, today.