BitCoin blockchain technology has been around since 2008, and is popular platform for digital currency. But the problem for organizations interested in BitCoin is in regards to technologies proprietary nature. In comes, Ethereum, where you can build your own blockchain network solution. In a simple language, think about Ethereum as Cloud services where you build your blockchain network with pay as you go. Organizations will pay a small fee in the form of fuel to the network in exchange for executing the logic contained within their smart contracts— for example, programs that run on the Ethereum Virtual Machine, written in Solidity, a JavaScript like language. This paradigm can be thought of the same way that Amazon Lambda works today—a function that waits in the Amazon cloud and executes it’s logic when called upon.
With Ethereum, however, the “cloud” is decentralized – there is no Amazon like entity that owns the network or infrastructure. It’s made up of nodes that can be owned and operated by anyone using the laptops, Raspberry Pi’s and desktops we already have. In the near future our phones will also join in—before long, we’ll be witness to a decentralized network that’s global in scope with billions of nodes working together— the world computer.
Recently a coalition called the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance was created. Founding members include Microsoft, J.P.Morgan, Intel, BP and others who have essentially put a post in the ground, confirmed that blockchain is for real, and that Ethereum is the blockchain technology that will bring these new use cases to attainment.
If BlockChain(s) impregnate our world as widely theorized, and Ethereum is the network of enterprise blockchains, then having access to the network resources will be important. Much like how Cloud provider charges by the resource hour or utilization, Ethereum runs on ammunition that is a transaction fee paid in Ether as an incentive for the nodes’ participation. Simply, to run an app or release a coin on Ethereum, you’ll need Ether with pay as you go model.
