** Ethereum: The World's Second-Largest Cryptocurrency. **
Ethereum is a decentralized open-source blockchain system that features its own cryptocurrency, Ether. ETH works as a platform for numerous other cryptocurrencies, as well as for the execution of decentralized smart contracts. **History of Ethereum** Ethereum was founded in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin, a Russian-Canadian programmer. Buterin was inspired by Bitcoin, but he believed that it could be improved. He wanted to create a platform that was more flexible and could be used to build more complex applications. Ethereum's initial coin offering (ICO) was held in July 2014. The ICO raised over $18 million in ETH, which was used to fund the development of the platform. Ethereum's mainnet went live in July 2015. Since then, the platform has grown rapidly. In 2021, Ethereum's market capitalization surpassed $500 billion, making it the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, after Bitcoin. **Applications of Ethereum** Ethereum can be used for a variety of applicati