ethereumanext-generationsmartcontractanddecentralizedapplicationplatformbyvitalikbuterin2014whensatoshinakamotofirstsetthebitcoinblockchainintomotioninjanuary2009hewassimultaneouslyintroducingtworadicalanduntestedconceptsthefirstisthebitcoinadecentralizedpeer-to-peeronlinecurrencythatmaintainsavaluewithoutanybackingintrinsicvalueorcentralissuersofarthebitcoinasacurrencyunithastakenupthebulkofthepublicattentionbothintermsofthepoliticalaspectsofacurrencywithoutacentralbankanditsextremeupwardanddownwardvolatilityinpricehoweverthereisalsoanotherequallyimportantparttosatoshisgrandexperimenttheconceptofaproofofwork-basedblockchaintoallowforpublicagreementontheorderoftransactionsbitcoinasanapplicationcanbedescribedasafirst-to-filesystemifoneentityhas50btcandsimultaneouslysendsthesame50btctoaandtobonlythetransactionthatgetsconfirmedfirstwillprocessthereisnointrinsicwayofdeterminingfromtwotransactionswhichcameearlierandfordecadesthisstymiedthedevelopmentofdecentralizeddigitalcurrencysatoshisblockchainwasthefirstcredibledecentralizedsolutionandnowattentionisrapidlystartingtoshifttowardthissecondpartofbitcoinstechnologyandhowtheblockchainconceptcanbeusedformorethanjustmoneycommonlycitedapplicationsincludeusingon-blockchaindigitalassetstorepresentcustomcurrenciesandfinancialinstrumentscoloredcoinstheownershipofanunderlyingphysicaldevicesmartpropertynon-fungibleassetssuchasdomainnamesnamecoinaswellasmoreadvancedapplicationssuchasdecentralizedexchangefinancialderivativespeer-to-peergamblingandon-blockchainidentityandreputationsystemsanotherimportantareaofinquiryissmartcontracts-systemswhichautomaticallymovedigitalassetsaccordingtoarbitrarypre-specifiedrulesforexampleonemighthaveatreasurycontractoftheformacanwithdrawuptoxcurrencyunitsperdaybcanwithdrawuptoyperdayaandbtogethercanwithdrawanythingandacanshutoffbsabilitytowithdrawthelogicalextensionofthisisdecentralizedautonomousorganizationsdaos-long-termsmartcontractsthatcontaintheassetsandencodethebylawsofanentireorganizationwhatethereumintendstoprovideisablockchainwithabuilt-infullyfledgedturing-completeprogramminglanguagethatcanbeusedtocreatecontractsthatcanbeusedtoencodearbitrarystatetransitionfunctionsallowinguserstocreateanyofthesystemsdescribedaboveaswellasmanyothersthatwehavenotyetimaginedsimplybywritingupthelogicinafewlinesofcodepage1ethereumorgethereumanext-generationsmartcontractanddecentralizedapplicationplatformbyvitalikbuterin2014tableofcontentshistorybitcoinasastatetransitionsystemminingmerkletreesalternativeblockchainapplicationsscriptingethereumethereumaccountsmessagesandtransactionsethereumstatetransitionfunctioncodeexecutionblockchainandminingapplicationstokensystemsfinancialderivativesidentityandreputationsystemsdecentralizedfilestoragedecentralizedautonomousorganizationsfurtherapplicationsmiscellaneaandconcernsmodifiedghostimplementationfeescomputationandturing-completenesscurrencyandissuanceminingcentralizationscalabilityputtingitalltogetherdecentralizedapplicationsconclusionreferencesandfurtherreadingpage2ethereumorgpage3ethereumorghistorytheconceptofdecentralizeddigitalcurrencyaswellasalternativeapplicationslikepropertyregistrieshasbeenaroundfordecadestheanonymouse-cashprotocolsofthe1980sandthe1990smostlyreliantonacryptographicprimitiveknownaschaumianblindingprovidedacurrencywithahighdegreeofprivacybuttheprotocolslargelyfailedtogaintractionbecauseoftheirrelianceonacentralizedintermediaryin1998weidaisb-moneybecamethefirstproposaltointroducetheideaofcreatingmoneythroughsolvingcomputationalpuzzlesaswellasdecentralizedconsensusbuttheproposalwasscantondetailsastohowdecentralizedconsensuscouldactuallybeimplementedin2005halfinneyintroducedaconceptofreusableproofsofworkasystemwhichusesideasfromb-moneytogetherwithadambackscomputationallydifficulthashcashpuzzlestocreateaconceptforacryptocurrencybutonceagainfellshortoftheidealbyrelyingontrustedcomputingasabackendbecausecurrencyisafirst-to-fileapplicationwheretheorderoftransactionsisoftenofcriticalimportancedecentralizedcurrenciesrequireasolutiontodecentralizedconsensusthemainroadblockthatallpre-bitcoincurrencyprotocolsfacedisthefactthatwhiletherehadbeenplentyofresearchoncreatingsecurebyzantine-fault-tolerantmultipartyconsensussystemsformanyyearsalloftheprotocolsdescribedweresolvingonlyhalfoftheproblemtheprotocolsassumedthatallparticipantsinthesystemwereknownandproducedsecuritymarginsoftheformifnpartiesparticipatethenthesystemcantolerateupton.eth, an ENS name.