Ethereum 101: Smart Contracts & Ethereum Virtual Machine

in #ethereum7 years ago (edited)

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There’s no denying the fact that many people are interested in cryptocurrencies for the sake of making some money.

But i think it would be a mighty big shame if people missed out on the bigger picture.

There is a reason why so much speculation exists in this space, it’s because the foundation is rich in technological advancements.
If you think it would be boring or too difficult to try and better understand the tech behind these cryptocurrencies, allow me to challenge that notion.
At the very least, if you have a better understanding of what it is you’re investing in, it’ll make it a hell of a lot easier to hold on during these tough times.

Today let’s take a look at the Ethereum Virtual Machine.

^^^^^VIEW VIDEO FULL OF CUTE MONKEYS HERE^^^^^

First let’s establish that Ethereum is similar to Bitcoin in that it uses a blockchain and it uses Proof of Work as its method of achieving consensus on the blockchain.
If you need a refresher for what this means exactly, check out the links to my other helpful videos down below in the description.

Ethereum is often called a second generation blockchain. This refers to the fact that its creators have built on the idea of how Bitcoin works and added to their blockchain the ability to do more than just monetary transactions.

Ethereum introduced the world to Smart Contracts.

Smart contracts are programs that can be created to facilitate a whole bunch of different interactions. These smart contracts set rules or specifications. Once the rules or specifications are met, there is an automatic triggered event which fulfills the smart contracts purpose.
They are called contracts because they represent an agreement.
They are called smart contracts because they can execute themselves.
Because of the distributed, decentralized nature of the Ethereum Network, the smart contracts will continue to execute even if your computer crashes.

Things that smart contracts are good for:

  • Transparent governance for communities
  • Secure communications
  • Secure foundation for ecommerce
  • Secure payments

This brings me to the Ethereum Virtual Machine.

It sounds cool and it’s function doesn’t disappoint.

All nodes on the Ethereum Network run the EVM in addition to validating transactions. They all run the same instructions or smart contracts. It is this distributed network of computers running the Ethereum Virtual Machine that gives Ethereum is reputation as a “world computer”.
It’s important to note that the EVM is altogether separate from the main network.
Because of it’s separation from the main net, The Ethereum Virtual machine can be thought of as a testing grounds for smart contracts.
You can deploy your newly written and untested code to this network of computers and see how it fairs. This is essential for projects who have a lot on the line. If smart contracts are deployed to the main network and they end up failing, that could spell disaster for the project behind it.

The Ethereum Virtual Machine tests more than just smart contracts, it also ensures that lines of communication are secure and that the many different systems that run on the Ethereum network aren’t able to cross into each other and ultimately intercept sensitive information.

The Ethereum Virtual Machine was not designed to allow for incredibly fast computing, it actually makes computing time slower and more expensive, that’s a bummer I know, but in return the EVM:

  • Serves as a defense against denial of service attacks
  • Allows for high levels of fault tolerance
  • Ensures zero downtime of the network.

Although the birth of some crypto kitties and the excitement that soon followed certainly tested this theory and showed that Ethereum still has some issues to address if it wants to conquer the challenge of scaling for the masses.

Additional Reading/Sources:

Proof of Work Explained
Overview of Ethereum
Merkle Article on Ethereum Virtual Machine

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There are few things people misunderstand. Ethereum is perhaps the biggest step forward in crypto. This is like microsoft windows OS in 1995. Vitalik built an infrastructure on top of which many products will come. By far Ethereum network is the only one widely adopted by business and government across the world. This guy is super genius and if I have to bet I will put everything onto Ethereum. With casper release the scaling issue will be solved and perhaps it could easily evolve to be the fastest network in future

Hi Heidi!

Thanks a lot once again for this new video.

Ethereum is in my eyes a really solid project and if the can handle the scaling issue in the future it will in my eyes definitely stay the number 1 building and smart contract platform.

Thank you for all the work you have done, you always kept me well informed, and always brought new things that I had not yet known.

EVM has been a great step forward and has pushed the concept of dApps into the market and others have followed like NEO, NULS, ADA and the like. Each cryptocurrency has their own idea of how these products should and they all be iterated on until we find the ideal balance between functionality and scale. This is still very much an exploratory phase and once we come can come to a consensus on how to take it forward who knows where this can take us.

EVM will no doubt be remembered as the platform that got the ball rolling

This refers to the fact that it’s creators

Allow me to challenge this misplacement of an apostrophe.😁✌😉

In the words of Vitalik "The Ethereum killer is Ethereum, the Ethereum of China is Ethereum, the Ethereum of Taiwan is Ethereum… 2.0,"

It's being upgraded and worked on like you said @heiditravels "it's important to understand the technology" but also why it's needed.

Trust is a big cost for businesses with smart contracts you can effectively remove this!

I hope you always have a good investment.
Thank you for your good writing.
Nor should I be too greedy about investment.
I got a good look.
I will listen often and try to translate it.
Writing through translation.
Please understand what is lacking.
Follow, voltage and go.
It's an honor to follow.
Have a good day.

That monkey looked so wise.

Crypto can serve as the backbone enabling technology behind so many technological advances that would require or prefer decentralisation of data/computing. For example automation of cars could be well served by this.

However, there are too many in the sphere at the moment that see it as a get rich scheme or just a simple money replacement (the name cryptocurrency doesn't help...). Hopefully, this side of things won't sink the truly useful applications of this new wave of computing.