What is Ethereum? Explained in Under 9 Minutes 9 Seconds

What is Ethereum and why does it matter so much especially in the cryptocurrency space? In this video, Jessica Walker breaks down the full story of Ethereum — from its origin in a San Francisco hostel to becoming the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap (in 2025) and the foundation for DeFi, NFTs, DAOs, and more. ✅ Who created Ethereum and what problem does it solve? ✅ How Ethereum powers smart contracts and decentralized applications ✅ The Merge: Why Ethereum moved to proof-of-stake ✅ Major network upgrades: Byzantium, Constantinople, The Merge & Dencun ✅ The rise of DeFi, NFTs, and Layer 2s built on Ethereum ✅ Ethereum ETFs and institutional adoption in 2025 💡 Learn how Ethereum went from an idea to the most used blockchain in the world, and what’s next in its roadmap! 📚 Resources: What Is Ethereum and How Does It Work? https://academy.binance.com/en/articles/what-is-ethereum ⏱️ Timestamps ⏳ 00:00 – Introduction: Ethereum ⏳ 00:29 – Vitalik Buterin and the birth of Ethereum ⏳ 01:28 – The ETH token sale and ETH launch (Frontier v1) ⏳ 02:04 – Ethereum’s early use cases: DeFi, DEXs, NFTs, DAOs ⏳ 02:27 – Network congestion and high gas fees ⏳ 02:49 – ETH Crises: The 2016 DAO Hack ⏳ 03:07 – Ethereum hard fork generating Ethereum Classic (ETC) ⏳ 03:32 – Byzantium and Constantinople upgrades to deal with gas fees ⏳ 04:23 – Ethereum 2.0: The Merge transition to Proof-of-stake (PoS) and energy reduction ⏳ 05:03 – Ethereum became the launchpad for the ICO boom ⏳ 05:26 – Ethereum became the backbone for the NFT explosion ⏳ 06:00 – ETH price history and market cycles ⏳ 07:10 – Ethereum 2025 Dencun upgrade and proto-danksharding ⏳ 07:31 – Ethereum ETFs, institutional adoption, and Vitalik in 2025 ⏳ 07:58 – What’s next: Pectra and the future of Ethereum ⏳ 08:53 – Outro #Ethereum #CryptoExplained #SmartContracts #binanceexplains ⚠️ RISK WARNING: Digital asset prices can be volatile. The value of your investment may go down or up and you may not get back the amount invested. You are solely responsible for your investment decisions and Binance is not liable for any losses you may incur. It is your responsibility to ascertain whether you are permitted to use the services of Binance based on your individual circumstances. Not financial advice. For more information, see our Terms of Use and Risk Warning. 📢 Join the conversation: ➡️ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/binance ➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/binance ➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/binance ➡️ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@binance ➡️ LinkedIn: https://www.din.com/company/binance ➡️ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/binance 🔗 Download Binance here (iOS, Android): https://binance.onelink.me/y874/cb98de36 🔗 Sign up for Binance here: https://www.binance.com/en?ref=ERQKP7ND&utm_source=BinanceYoutube&utm_medium=GlobalSocial&utm_campaign=GlobalSocial