Sunday 29 April 2018

What is Ethereum?


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NJ Bridgewater
29 April 2018

[NOTE: This post should not be considered or construed as financial advice or other advice and is written solely for informative and educational purposes]

Introduction

What is Ethereum? Simply put, Ethereum is a blockchain-based network which allows for the creation and implementation of smart contracts.[1] The central engine of the system is a decentralizing Turing-complete virtual machine called the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which executes scripts using an international network of public nodes.[2] The Ethereum platform also generates its own cryptocurrency called Ether. Ether (or ETH) is one of the top four cryptocurrencies – the others being Bitcoin (BTC – the undoubted king of cryptocurrencies), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which is a hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain. [For more information on Bitcoin, see my article, ‘What is Bitcoin’ here]. Internal transactions within the Ethereum network are priced using ‘Gas’, which helps to mitigate spam and allocate resources within the network.[3] The main purpose of the platform is to create “a global infrastructure that can move value around and represent ownership of property”.[4] This can include both digital assets (e.g. cryptocurrencies themselves, like Ether) and tokenized assets. An asset is something which has value, including money, precious metals, land etc. By tokenizing assets, one can create digital tokens which represent objects of real-world value. One could, for example, create a token which represents an ounce of gold or silver. This digital token would then represent the object of real-world value. While Bitcoin represents the next step in the evolution of money, Ethereum has opened up new possibilities and a next-level evolution in the ownership and distribution of tangible (e.g. gold) and intangible (e.g. information) assets.


Ethereum logo

Etymology

The name Ethereum, which evokes the English word ‘ether’ and sounds a lot like ethereal (meaning ‘delicate’ or ‘otherworldly’). If we describe something as ethereal, we mean that it pertains to the ether, sky or celestial heavens. Thus, we might describe a princess or goddess depicted in Pre-Raphaelite paintings as ‘ethereal’, such as the Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse (1849 – 1917), or the nymphs in Hylas and the Nymphs, by the same artist. Ether, which derives from the Latin aetherius (‘pertaining to the ether, sky or air), is a borrowing from the Greek aithérios. It is synonymous with the Latin dÄ«vÄ«nus, meaning divine, and caeles, meaning ‘celestial’ or ‘heavenly’, from caelum ‘heaven, sky’.[5] In medieval science, furthermore, æther or ether, also called the ‘quintessence’, refers to a theoretical material which fills the region of the universe which exists above the terrestrial sphere.[6] It is also referred to in Plato’s Timaeus as being a translucent kind of air.[7] In any case, æther or ether is an other-worldy, celestial or perhaps ineffable concept which defies ordinary understanding and conception. The -eum ending which has been added to the word evokes 1st and 2nd declension Latin accusative nouns, making the word sound Classical and Roman, like the English words millennium, requiem, compendium and barium.

Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum

The Founder – Vitalik Buterin

Unlike Bitcoin, whose creator, under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, remains anonymous, Ethereum has a known founder and foundation which has a controlling influence over the network and its development. This provides a sharp distinction between the decentralized and democratic Bitcoin network, and Ethereum, which cannot replicate either the decentralization or the trustlessness of its competitor. Ethereum was founded by now-billionaire Vitalik Buterin, who first heard about Bitcoin in 2009.[8] Vitalik, a Russian-Canadian programmer and co-founder of Bitcoin Magazine, was born in 1994 and, as of writing, is only 24 years old![9] Believing that Bitcoin had some limitations, Vitalik went on to develop his own platform in 2015, called Ethereum, as a decentralized platform for applications and smart contracts. Due to the revolutionary nature of the platform, it has been dubbed the ‘Internet 2.0’.[10] Having solved the ‘double spending problem’, Bitcoin was the pioneer in blockchain technology. Vitalik utilized this same technology to create the Ethereum blockchain, which is the distributed and digital ledger which records all the transactions on the Ethereum platform. In this sense, Bitcoin and Ethereum are similar, as they both operate using thousands of nodes distributed across the planet, preserving the network from destruction and allowing all new transactions to be verified and compared against the blockchain. Ethereum’s chief innovation, however, was in the development of decentralized smart contracts.

A vending machine


Smart Contracts

What is a smart contract? To start with, a contract is an agreement between two parties and is legally recognized by state institutions. There are two main kinds of contracts: verbal and written contracts. Smart contracts are similar in that they involve an agreement between two parties. They differ, however, in how the contracts are executed. A smart contract, as first conceived in 1993 by computer scientist and cryptographer Nick Szabo, acts like a ‘digital vending machine’.[11] The basic idea or premise behind smart contracts, Szabo explains, “is that many kinds of contractual clauses (such as collateral, bonding, delineation of property rights, etc.) can be embedded in the hardware and software we deal with, in such a way as to make breach of contract expensive (if desired, sometimes prohibitively so) for the breacher.”[12] The vending machine example shows us that “via a simple mechanism”, the machine can take in coins and dispense change according to a specified price. The vending machine itself “is a contract with bearer: anybody with coins can participate in an exchange with the vendor. The lockbox and other security mechanisms protect the stored coins and contents from attackers, sufficiently to allow profitable deployment of vending machines in a wide variety of areas.”

What Szabo is saying here is that a smart contract functions in the same manner as a vending machine. When you place a coin in the machine to purchase an item, e.g. a can of Coke, you are entering a contract with the vendor who owns the machine. Instead of signing a paper or digital contract or entering into a verbal agreement, you are entering a contract that is mechanically automated through the internal mechanism of the machine itself. The coin enters and the product is released automatically, falling into the tray where you can access and take your purchased goods. A smart contract works the same way. For example, a developer will create a smart contract on the Ethereum platform which allows for the exchange of one digital token for another. This may take the form of exchanging the native Ether cryptocurrency for another token developed on the Ethereum platform, e.g. TRX. An exchange rate can be specified, a time frame can be determined, or any other number of variant factors which will determine the length, amount, and other features of the contract. When someone sends Ether to the specified contract address, the tokens specified in the contract are automatically released. There is no intermediate human intervention; rather, like the vending machine, the mechanisms of the Ethereum Virtual Machine ensure that the contract is executed, seamlessly and without prejudice. The lack of a human mediator is revolutionary – it frees humans from the constraints of third parties and allows direct peer-to-peer interactions and exchanges of wealth, assets and information, without any concern for government oversight or third-party governance.

Decentralized Applications (Dapps)

In addition to smart contracts, another essential feature of Ethereum is ‘decentralized applications’ or DApps. According to the Ethereum whitepaper, “the intent of Ethereum is to create an alternative protocol for building decentralized applications”, which it achieves through “building what is essentially the ultimate abstract foundational layer: a blockchain with a built-in Turing-complete programming language, allowing anyone to write smart contracts and decentralized applications where they can create their own arbitrary rules for ownership, transaction formats and state transition functions”.[13] DApps include a number of features, including open-source code, which is freely available to all; decentralization, using a blockchain; digital incentives in the form of crypto-tokens or digital assets; and an algorithm or protocol which generates tokens and has an in-built consensus mechanism.[14] Unlike traditional applications, file sharing websites and social networks, DApps are decentralized – stored and run by computers across the planet. This can lead to decentralized media (e.g. Steemit), decentralized file sharing/store (e.g. Filecoin) and even de-centralized games such as CryptoKitties.[15] If you want to understand Ethereum’s potential use cases, then you need to understand CryptoKitties.

An example of a CryptoKitty

CryptoKitties

CryptoKitties is an Ethereum-based virtual game created by Axiom Zen, which allows user to buy, collect, breed and sell virtual cats.[16] As of December 2017, Ether-holders had spent more than $2 million USD on virtual cats which are bought and sold within the game.[17] Not only is this an internet game, but CryptoKitties themselves are highly collectible, with the most expensive virtual cat to date (called Genesis) selling for $117,712, with the mean price per virtual cat selling at less than $90.[18] In the same month (December), the game’s popularity caused congestion on the Ethereum network, causing an all-time-high rise in transactions and a considerable slowdown in the time it takes to make Ether transactions.[19] Interestingly, the cats have a 256-bit genome with DNA and different attributes, called ‘cattributes’ which can be passed on to offspring. As such, one can both collect existing virtual cats as well as breeding others for sale.[20] CryptoKitties is thus both a game and a potential business. On March 20th, 2018, it was announced that CryptoKitties would be spun off to form its own company, raising $12 million USD from several major venture capital firms and other investors, led by San Francisco-based Andreessen Horowitz, an American private venture capital firm founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz in 2009.[21] In fact, CryptoKitties have been so popular that it has even inspired spin-off games such as Tron (TRX) Dogs, which are based on the TRON platform.[22] Tron Dogs were launched by Game.com and have no direct affiliation with the Tron Foundation, though Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, sits on the advisory board for Tron Dogs. At the time of launch, a Tron Dog could be purchased for far less than a CryptoKitty, at only 200 TRX (about $18 USD) per dog, though one can spend 20,000 TRX to buy their own Tron Dogs store, with an upper limit of 10,000 pet stores per person.[23] All of this seems rather ridiculous, until you realize that it isn’t and that this is just the beginning of a new economy of fictional digital assets and the monetized utilization of crypto-tokens in online gaming.

Ethereum Classic logo

The DAO Hack and Ethereum Classic

Ethereum is, however, not without its faults. One of the most notable of these was revealed by the DAO attack. In April 2016, the German blockchain startup, Slock.it, launched a radical experiment called the Distributed Autonomous Organization (or the DAO for short), which was based on the Ethereum network.[24] It was an ambitious project: to launch a venture capital firm wherein all decisions were made via smart contracts instead of through human control. The project raised an astounding $150 million from roughly 11,000 investors and was, at the time, the largest crowdfunding effort in history.[25] This much-anticipated project, however, was soon to face a major catastrophe. The problem was that there were serious security flaws in the DAO code, leading computer programmer, Emin Gün Sirer, to urge that people stop donating to the DAO until the flaws could be fixed.[26] His concerns went unheeded, however, and on 17th June 2016, funds were moved from the DAO and its account drained by an unknown hacker. A series of efforts were undertaken to recover the funds, but to no avail and, at the end, the only option remaining to recover the funds was to hard fork the Ethereum blockchain.[27] A hard fork usually takes place when a significant change in the code of a blockchain is made and the blockchain is split into two versions, with some miners (or nodes) running the original code while others adopt the new blockchain. The digital ledger, in other words, is divided in two, and these two new ledgers then function and continue to develop independently of each other. This happened, for example, when Bitcoin Cash (BCH) forked off the Bitcoin blockchain, with the majority of the community continuing to support the original Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain.

On July 20, 2016 at 14:30 UTC, the China-based Ethereum-miner BW.com mined the 192,000th block on the Ethereum blockchain, followed by the immediate return of the funds lost in the DAO hack to an account available to the original DAO investors.[28] The result? The funds were restored but, at the same time, the original Ethereum ledger was irreparably altered – falsified, if you will – in order to preserve the massive amount of funds invested in the DAO. While the DAO investors did receive justice, in a sense, since their original funds were preserved – at the same time, the integrity of the blockchain was compromised and a precedent was set, one in which ledgers can be altered to suit the needs of certain individuals or categories of investors. Another result of the DAO hack was the creation of Ethereum Classic (ETC), which resulted from an ideological opposition to the restoration of the DAO funds, thus compromising the immutability of the Ethereum ledger.[29] Since that time, however, the precedent established by the DAO hack has not been followed. A recent proposal, for instance, to restore money to users who suffered from the recent Parity hack (which resulted in 587 Ethereum wallets holding 513,774.16 ETH being frozen), was shut down when users overwhelmingly voted against forking the blockchain yet again to restore their funds. The amount lost would have amounted to around $360 million USD at today’s prices.[30]

Examples of different cryptocurrencies and tokens

ERC20 / ERC223 Tokens and ICOs / ITOs

In addition to CryptoKitties and other decentralized apps (DApps), one of the main functionalities of Ethereum is the tokenization of assets, i.e. the creation of crypto-tokens or crypto-assets, often or usually released in the form of an initial coin offering (ICO) or initial token offering (ITO). The creation of crypto-assets is made possible through the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which allows for the creation of ERC20 tokens. ERC stands for ‘Ethereum Request for Comment’ and 20 is the number assigned to the request.[31] Originally proposed by Fabian Vogelsteller in 2015, ERC20 tokens are tokens which are created within the Ethereum ecosystem, adhering to a common list of rules and giving developers the ability to decide how the tokens will function within the ecosystem.[32] A smart contract can be implemented, which allows for automatic exchange of the new tokens for a fixed amount of Ether (ETH). When a blockchain company wishes to release a new crypto-asset, such as a utility token (i.e. a token which provides a utility or function), they program the token with a smart contract which allows for the receipt of ETH and the dispersal of the new token. Investors then send their ETH to the smart contract address and receive a set amount of tokens in return, automatically and without any human intervention. The easy-of-use and adaptability of this new token-class has led to a boom in ICOs, resulting in a total of more than 21,000 ERC20 token contracts being created, with some of the most successful including EOS, Bancor, Qash and Bankex, which each raised over $70 million USD.[33] Investing in ICOs is not without risk, not least because a large number of these blockchain startups do not follow through with the implementation of their business model, and there are also technical risks as well. In April 2018, for example, Poloniex had to suspend all ERC20 token deposits and withdrawals due to a potential new smart contract bug called ‘batchOverFlow’.[34] While such bugs can and are usually solved without much difficulty, this does show that the code is not invulnerable. It should also be noted that there is now a new type of Ethereum-based token called ERC223, which includes some additional improvements and functionalities.[35] Digitex is an example of this new ERC223 token standard.[36]

The Future

What are the future prospects for Ethereum and its native token, Ether? The cryptocurrency space is still quite young, and the future development of cryptocurrency and its potential integration with mainstream financial institutions and markets is still uncertain. One of the key questions surrounding Ethereum is whether or not it should be classified as a security under various national laws, e.g. under U.S. law. If it is classified as a security, then Ethereum could be subject to a number of national and international government regulations. This is where NEO, an alternative blockchain which also allows for the development of smart contracts and decentralized applications proves interesting. NEO is, essentially, a rival to Ethereum and already hosts an increasing number of NEO-based (NEP-5) tokens. While Ethereum currently dominates the field, its future dominance is by no means certain. If it is classed as a security, the Ether (ETH) currency itself and all of the ERC20 and ERC223 tokens would, by extension, be subject to government regulations. NEO, in contrast, has already made moves in the direction of government compliance and regulation. The most promising new exchange for trading NEP-5 tokens, a decentralized exchange (DEX) called Neon Exchange (NEX) will be opening in the near future, allowing for the trading of NEO-based tokens and the eventual integration of Ethereum-based and other tokens. NEX has already made a conscious effort to register as a security under European law and fully intends to comply with government regulations. See my article on the Neon Exchange here.

Ethereum, despite its laudable endeavor to achieve decentralization and freedom from government or other centralized control, may have to move in the same direction as NEO at some point. This leaves Bitcoin as the only truly decentralized cryptocurrency and the centre of the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem. Price-wise, however, the future prospects for Ethereum and Ether seem good. DeVere Group, which is a financial consulting firm, estimates that ETH could rise in price to about $2,500 by the end of 2018, with further increases by 2019 and 2020 respectively.[37] The current price of Ethereum is roughly $688.92 USD or 0.07352 BTC. As the total market value of the crypto-space continues to grow, and as Bitcoin continues to lead the way, Ethereum will no doubt follow, and the value of Ether may continue to rise over the long run. However unrealistic it may seem from the perspective of early 2018, Dan Morehead, the CEO of Pantera Capital, a $1 billion USD cryptocurrency hedge fund, has even gone so far as to say that the crypto-market could hit $40 trillion USD within ten years, i.e. by 2028.[38] If that’s the case, the value of Ether could soar much higher than it is at present. Whether or not this prediction will prove true remains to be seen, but the very fact that it is within the realm of possibility means that the potential for growth is enormous.

Some Facts about Ethereum

Now, finally, here are some more facts about Ethereum:

·       According to the official FAQ on the Ethereum.org website, 60 million Ether were created for the original 2014 presale, 12 million (20%) were allocated to the development fund, and the supply of Ether was capped at 18 million Ether per year (25% of the initial supply), with the supply continuously inflating into the foreseeable future.[39]

·       77% of ICOs take place on the Ethereum blockchain (e.g. ERC20 and ERC223 tokens).[40]

·       There is no hard cap for Ether, with the total amount mined per year standing at around 18 million.[41]

·       The current supply of Ether was 98 million as of January 2018.[42] This now stands at 99,100,709.03 ETH (as of writing), of which 72,009,990.50 ETH was created when Ethereum initially launched. This is equivalent to $68,272,460,465 USD. This is referred to as the total market capitalization. The average price per ETH is currently $688.92 USD or 0.07352 BTC.[43]

·       As of Jan. 2018, Ethereum had a block time of 14 to 15 seconds, compared to 10 minutes for Bitcoin.[44]

·       Mining of Ether generates new coins at a consistent rate, without any increase in mining difficulty.[45]

·       Ethereum transaction fees are usually measured in Gwei, which is a subunit of Ether equivalent to 10 to the minus 9th power ETH, with the smallest subunit being Wei, which is 10 to the minus 18th power.[46]

·       Sometime in 2018 – 2019, Ethereum will be switched from Proof of Work to a new consensus algorithm, currently under development, called Casper.[47]

If you are interested in learning about Bitcoin, make sure to check out my article entitled ‘What is Bitcoin?’ (7 December 2017) and my YouTube video entitled ‘Bitcoin: What is it?’ (10 March 2018).

Sources:

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NJ Bridgewater (2018) Neon Exchange (NEX): A New Decentralized Exchange (DEX), Crossing the Bridge, 18 April 2018. URL: http://nicholasjames19.blogspot.com/2018/04/neon-exchange-nex-new-decentralized.html (accessed 28/04/2018).

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Marie Huillet (2018) Crypto Market Hitting $40 Trln In 10 Years “Definitely Possible”, Says Pantera Capital CEO, Coin Telegraph, Apr 27, 2018. URL: https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-market-hitting-40-trln-in-10-years-definitely-possible-says-pantera-capital-ceo/amp?__twitter_impression=true (accessed 28/04/2018)

Sudhir Khatwani (2018) What are DApps (Decentralized Applications)? – The Beginner’s Guide, CoinSutra, last updated: 2/02/2018. URL: https://coinsutra.com/dapps-decentralized-applications/ (accessed 25/04/2018)

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Molly Jane Zuckerman (2018) Multiple Exchanges Suspend ERC20 Token Trading Due To Potential BatchOverflow Bug, Coin Telegraph, Apr 25, 2018. URL: https://cointelegraph.com/news/multiple-exchanges-suspend-erc20-token-trading-due-to-potential-batchoverflow-bug (accessed 25/04/2018)



[1] See: Ethereum (Wikipedia article). URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethereum (accessed 25/04/2018).
[2] See: Ethereum (Wikipedia article).
[3] See: Ethereum (Wikipedia article).
[4] See: Ethereum Blockchain App Platform. URL: https://ethereum.org (accessed 25/04/2018).
[5] See: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aetherius#Latin ; https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/caeles#Latin (accessed 25/04/2018).
[6] See: Aether (classical element) (Wikipedia article). URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aether_(classical_element) (accessed 25/04/2018).
[7] See: Aether (classical element) (Wikipedia article).
[8] See: Lesley Price (2018) In Conversation With Vitalik Buterin, Billionaire, April 24, 2018 12:05 AM. URL: http://www.billionaire.com/people/3027/in-conversation-with-vitalik-buterin (accessed 25/04/2018).
[9] See: Vitalik Buterin (Wikipedia article). URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitalik_Buterin (accessed 25/04/2018).
[10] See: Price (2018).
[11] See: Alyssa Hertig (2017) How Do Ethereum Smart Contracts Work? CoinDesk, April 2017. URL: https://www.coindesk.com/information/ethereum-smart-contracts-work/ (accessed 25/04/2018).
[12] See: Nick Szabo (1997) Formalizing and Securing Relationships on Public Networks, First Monday, 1 September 1997. URL: http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/548/469 (accessed 25/04/2018).
[13] See: Vitalik Buterin (2013) A Next-Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform, published on GitHub. URL: https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/White-Paper (accessed 25/04/2018).
[14] See: Sudhir Khatwani (2018) What are DApps (Decentralized Applications)? – The Beginner’s Guide, CoinSutra, last updated: 2/02/2018. URL: https://coinsutra.com/dapps-decentralized-applications/ (accessed 25/04/2018).
[15] See: Andrew Braun (2018) Are Decentralized Apps the Future of the Internet? MakeTechEasier, 14th March 2018. URL: https://www.maketecheasier.com/are-decentralized-apps-the-future/ (accessed 25/04/2018).
[16] See: CryptoKitties (Wikipedia article). URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CryptoKitties (accessed 28/04/2018).
[17] See: Joseph Hincks (2017) Introducing 'CryptoKitties,' the New Digital Pets Taking Ethereum by Storm, Fortune, December 4, 2017. URL: http://fortune.com/2017/12/04/blockchain-cryptokitties-ethereum/ (accessed 28/04/2018).
[18] See: Hincks (2017).
[19] See: CryptoKitties (Wikipedia article).
[20] See: CryptoKitties (Wikipedia article).
[21] See: CryptoKitties (Wikipedia article).
[22] See: Chelsea Roh (2018) Tron (TRX) Dogs vs. CryptoKitties, CryptoCurrency News, Mar 14, 2018. URL: https://cryptocurrencynews.com/crypto-games/tron-dogs-cryptokitties/ (accessed 28/04/2018).
[23] See: Roh (2018).
[24] See: Joon Ian Wong & Ian Kar (2016) Everything you need to know about the Ethereum “hard fork”, Quartz, July 18, 2016. URL: https://qz.com/730004/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-ethereum-hard-fork/ (accessed 25/04/2018).
[25] See: Wong & Kar (2016).
[26] See: Matthew Lessing (2017) The Ether Thief, Bloomberg Markets, June 13, 2017. URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2017-the-ether-thief/ (accessed 28/04/2018).
[27] See: Michael del Castillo (2016) Ethereum Executes Blockchain Hard Fork to Return DAO Funds, CoinDesk, Jul 20, 2016 at 15:23 UTC, updated Jul 21, 2016 at 15:25 UTC. URL: https://www.coindesk.com/ethereum-executes-blockchain-hard-fork-return-dao-investor-funds/ (accessed 28/04/2018).
[28] See: Castillo (2016).
[29] See: Alyssa Hertig (2016) The Blockchain Created By Ethereum's Fork is Forking Now, CoinDesk, Oct 25, 2016 at 04:23 UTC, updated Jul 25, 2017 at 22:45 UTC. URL: https://www.coindesk.com/ethereum-classic-blockchain-fork-ddos-attacks/ (accessed 28/04/2018).
[30] See: Molly Jane Zuckerman (2018) Ethereum Proposal To “Resurrect” Disabled $360 Mln Parity Contract Shut Down, Coin Telegraph, Apr 24, 2018. URL: https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-proposal-to-resurrect-disabled-360-mln-parity-contract-shut-down (accessed 28/04/2018).
[31] See: ERC20 (Wikipedia article). URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ERC20 (accessed 28/04/2018).
[32] See: ERC20 (Wikipedia article).
[33] See: ERC20 (Wikipedia article).
[34] See: Molly Jane Zuckerman (2018) Multiple Exchanges Suspend ERC20 Token Trading Due To Potential BatchOverflow Bug, Coin Telegraph, Apr 25, 2018. URL: https://cointelegraph.com/news/multiple-exchanges-suspend-erc20-token-trading-due-to-potential-batchoverflow-bug (accessed 25/04/2018).
[35] See: Leonid Beder (2017) The New ERC223 Token Standard, Medium, Dec 5, 2017. URL: https://medium.com/kinfoundation/the-new-erc223-token-standard-8dddbf1a5909 (accessed 25/04/2018).
[36] See: Adam Todd (2017) What Is The DGTX Token? Digitex Futures, December 3, 2007. URL: https://digitexfutures.com/what-is-the-dgtx-token/ (accessed 25/04/2018).
[37] See: Aaron Hankin (2018) Ethereum could hit $2,500 by year-end, consulting firm says, Market Watch, Apr 27, 2018 4:50 pm ET. URL: https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/guid/212C2A0E-4A0F-11E8-9DCC-4E2E933CAECF?__twitter_impression=true (accessed 28/04/2018).
[38] See: Marie Huillet (2018) Crypto Market Hitting $40 Trln In 10 Years “Definitely Possible”, Says Pantera Capital CEO, Coin Telegraph, Apr 27, 2018. URL: https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-market-hitting-40-trln-in-10-years-definitely-possible-says-pantera-capital-ceo/amp?__twitter_impression=true (accessed 28/04/2018).
[39] See: Ether – The crypto-fuel for the Ethereum network, Ethereum.org. URL: https://www.ethereum.org/ether (accessed 25/04/2018).
[40] See: Beryl Achieng’ (2018) 5 fascinating facts about Ethereum blockchain, Crypto News Magnet, March 22, 2018. URL: https://cryptonewsmagnet.com/5-fascinating-facts-ethereum-blockchain/ (accessed 25/04/2018).
[41] See: Achieng’ (2018).
[42] See: Ethereum (Wikipedia article). URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethereum (accessed 25/04/2018).
[43] See: Etherscan, Etherscan.io. URL: https://etherscan.io/stat/supply (accessed 25/04/2018).
[44] See: Ethereum (Wikipedia article).
[45] See: Ethereum (Wikipedia article).
[46] See: Ethereum (Wikipedia article).
[47] See: Ether – The crypto-fuel for the Ethereum network, Ethereum.org. URL: https://www.ethereum.org/ether (accessed 28/04/2018).