What is Ethereum?

Ethereum is a blockchain like Bitcoin's, but with a bigger job. Where Bitcoin is mainly digital money, Ethereum is a platform that also runs small programs called smart contracts — code that executes automatically when conditions are met, with no middleman. Its coin is called Ether (ETH).

Why does that matter?

Because those smart contracts power most of what people mean by "crypto" beyond just holding coins: lending apps, exchanges that run without a company, NFTs, stablecoins, and thousands of other tokens are built on top of Ethereum. People sometimes call it a "world computer."

What are gas fees?

Every action on Ethereum costs a small fee, paid in ETH, called gas. Fees rise when the network is busy and fall when it's quiet — a bit like surge pricing. Gas is how the network pays the computers that keep it running.

The risk

ETH is volatile like most crypto, and smart-contract apps can have bugs or scams. Ethereum is educational to understand because so much of the market depends on it — but it carries the same "you can lose money fast" warning as any crypto.