What is Ethereum? How it is different from Bitcoin??
At its simplest, Ethereum is an open software platform based on blockchain technology that enables developers to build and deploy decentralized applications.
Like Bitcoin, Ethereum is a distributed public blockchain network. Although there are some significant technical differences between the two, the most important distinction to note is that Bitcoin and Ethereum differ substantially in purpose and capability. Bitcoin offers one particular application of blockchain technology, a peer to peer electronic cash system that enables online Bitcoin payments. While the Bitcoin blockchain is used to track ownership of digital currency (bitcoins), the Ethereum blockchain focuses on running the programming code of any decentralized application.
In the Ethereum blockchain, instead of mining for bitcoin, miners work to earn Ether, a type of crypto token that fuels the network. Beyond a tradeable cryptocurrency, Ether is also used by application developers to pay for transaction fees and services on the Ethereum network.
Ethereum Smart Contract
Smart contract is just a phrase used to describe computer code that can facilitate the exchange of money, content, property, shares, or anything of value. When running on the blockchain a smart contract becomes like a self-operating computer program that automatically executes when specific conditions are met. Because smart contracts run on the blockchain, they run exactly as programmed without any possibility of censorship, downtime, fraud or third party interference.
More info:https://blockgeeks.com/guides/ethereum/
Bitcoin has smartcontracts btw, it has had them from the start. The lightning network is one for example.
I'd be careful about putting ethereum and decentralization in the same sentence, because even by some of their own public statements that was never their goal. First thing that scared me off ethereum, were their public stated goals of being the new walled garden, like apple I-store or the new microsoft and wanting to pull all of crypto in their sphere of influence with the Ethereum foundation at the helm.
Another thing that bugged me at the start where the secretive founding members who got a bigger slice of the cake right from the get go, and which also included the owners of the biggest media-outlets in crypto. Which is probably why you'll have a hard time finding the same critique leveled towards ethereum as you will towards bitcoin. Not that bitcoin doesn't deserve critique mind you, but ethereum suffers from just about all the problems bitcoin does (even worse if you look at scaleability and security) plus quite a lot more problems of their own design.
The most horrendous thing however was the resolution to their DAO-fiasco. Which was the exact opposite of your quote "Because smart contracts run on the blockchain, they run exactly as programmed without any possibility of censorship, downtime, fraud or third party interference." A very small group of people stopped , censored and overwrote the contract exactly as written and forked the network not for a technical problem with the network, but for a bailout and with that destruction of the entire project. The solution to bailout the founding members was the most horrific thing in all of cryptocurrency and set an disastrous precedent. It also proved to me without a shadow of a doubt that ethereum is not "decentralized" and was never meant as such and people I used to trust and whose opinions I used to value, turned two faced in the blink of an eye. Suddenly pulling completely new definitions of consensus out of their ass trying to prove that bailouts and opt-out manipulation bullshit is a good thing. Even their philosophical switch to POS is now suspect in my view and I can't see it any other way than as another scheme to insure that the little cabal stays in power and no further decentralization erodes their power.
The one positive thing though is their weird design decision to make a centralized single computer on something as inefficient as blockchain with the premise that the whole world is supposed to share computation on this monstrosity. Mainframes are obsolete, and no, putting a single mainframe on a blockchain that everybody has to not only share but repeat as well is not the best solution, just, no. And still I see people defending this "world computer" with less computing power than an average cellphone and complain about bitcoin scaleability at the same time. The mind boggles. How the hell is ethereum still valued that highly, despite its technologically superior replacements in the form of projects like EOS so close on the horizon. (ps, not that I don't have reservations about EOS)
Sorry for the rant, but your post was just the latest thing I saw about ethereum without any critical remarks or warnings.
I really believe Ethereum will have a great year.
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