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title: Intro to Blockchain and Ethereum

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# Intro to Blockchain and Ethereum


## History
- [1st Generation Blockchain: Bitcoin](https://hbr.org/2017/02/a-brief-history-of-blockchain)
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    - Technology has revolutionlized how we live in our world today. Blockchain likewise is as impactful as the smartphone was. The smartphone changed the way in which we could communicate and interact with one another.
    - When we access the internet today, we are relying on servers that act as databases for all our webpages and social media sites.
    - Blockchain is revolutionary because it stores its data in a distributed database of records which is publicly viewable from every computer using that chain.
        - These records are also known as the 'blocks' which make up the blockchain
    - Bitcoin was the first digital currency experiment using Blockchain tehcnology which now has a nearly $400 billion dollar market cap
        - It is used as a payment system by many people all over the world
- [2nd Generation Blockchain: Ethereum](https://bernardmarr.com/blockchain-a-very-short-history-of-ethereum-everyone-should-read/)
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    - After the rise and success of Bitcoin, financial institutions saw the potential for Bitcoin and other projects to seperate from tranditional currency
    - After this came the innovation of the Ethereum blockchain which introduced Smart Contracts, the focus of this research
    - The advantage of the Ethereum chain is these smart contracts which provide more functions than just transfering money between accounts
        - [Core difference also include](https://blockgeeks.com/guides/proof-of-work-vs-proof-of-stake/):
            - Ethereum - proof of stake
            - Bitcoin - proof of work
    - Smart Contracts are programs, decentralized apps, which can be built into the Eth blockchain
    - You could then develop financial instruments involving loaning and bonding to transform the marketplaces being made with these contracts
    - There are thousands of potential applications that could be made using smart contracts
    - These applications themselves change the way we use and interact with digital currency. So what can we develop that takes advantage of this new stage?
- [Future of Programmable Blockchains](https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthougan/2020/07/13/why-ethereum-has-valuethe--opportunity-in-programmable-money--defi/?sh=68e6cb724818)
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    - People who have heard a little about crypto or NFT's often assume that it is a scam. Why would someone pay for digital asset which has no physical real world value? This type of thinking defeats the whole purpose of the many projects, blockchains, and apps that are being made everyday.
    - Different crypto assets and chains are focused on different areas and uses
        - Bitcoin is built on the principles of security and anti-seizure
        - Ethereum is optimized for programmability with smart contracts

    - Programmable smart contracts allow apps on Ethereum chain to do more than simply process a transaction
        - With Ethereum you can create apps and conditions which can decided between users or autonomously within the contract. After these conditions are met, then the transaction will take place which satisfies all parties expectations and rules
- [Security: Ethereum Merge](https://www.investopedia.com/the-ethereum-merge-6504132)
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    - {%youtube EEuPmA8w0Kc %}