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Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform with its own cryptocurrency called Ether. It serves as a foundation for many other cryptocurrencies and enables the execution of smart contracts. The concept was introduced in a 2013 whitepaper by Vitalik Buterin, and funding was raised through a public crowd sale in 2014, collecting $18.3 million in Bitcoin. The Ethereum Foundation launched the mainnet on July 30, 2015, under the codename 'Frontier'. Since then, it has undergone several upgrades, including 'Constantinople', 'Istanbul', 'Muir Glacier', 'Berlin', and most recently, the 'London' hard fork in August 2021. The platform aims to become a global hub for decentralized applications.

Ethereum was founded by a group of eight individuals who first met on June 7, 2014, in Zug, Switzerland. Vitalik Buterin, a Russian-Canadian, is the most prominent, having authored the original whitepaper and continuing to work on the platform. Gavin Wood, a British programmer, coded the initial implementation in C++, proposed the Solidity language, and served as the first CTO of the Ethereum Foundation. Other co-founders include Anthony Di Iorio, who provided early funding, Charles Hoskinson, who helped establish the Ethereum Foundation, and Mihai Alisie, who assisted in its setup. These individuals played various roles in bringing Ethereum to life.

Ethereum introduced the concept of smart contracts on a blockchain, which are self-executing programs that automate agreements between parties, reducing the need for intermediaries and lowering costs. Its key innovation was enabling these contracts to run on a decentralized network, making them more robust and resistant to censorship. Ethereum also supports the creation of other cryptocurrencies, known as tokens, through its ERC-20 standard. This has been widely adopted, with over 280,000 ERC-20 tokens launched. The platform's goal is to act as a global computer, capable of running any program in a decentralized manner.

Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is a decentralized naming system built on the Ethereum blockchain, similar to the Domain Name Service (DNS) on the internet. It addresses the problem of long, complex cryptocurrency addresses, which are difficult for humans to read and can lead to errors. ENS allows users to assign readable names, like 'Alice.eth', to Ethereum addresses and other identifiers. This simplifies transactions and reduces the risk of funds being lost due to typos. ENS operates through two smart contracts: the registry, which stores domain ownership and resolver information, and the resolver, which translates names into machine-readable data.

The term 'Ethereum Killer' refers to blockchain platforms that aim to surpass Ethereum by offering faster and cheaper transactions, addressing issues like high gas fees and low throughput. These competitors emerged around 2016-2017, with examples like Cardano, EOS, Tezos, Solana, Fantom, Avalanche, and Binance Smart Chain. Each uses different consensus mechanisms, such as proof-of-history or delegated proof-of-stake, to overcome Ethereum's limitations. Despite these efforts, none have managed to displace Ethereum from its position as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, though they continue to provide alternatives.

EIP-1559 is a protocol upgrade that changed how gas fees are calculated on the Ethereum network. Previously, users had to bid in an auction to have their transactions included, with the highest bidder winning. EIP-1559 introduced a 'base fee' that adjusts based on network congestion, making fees more predictable. Users can also add a 'priority fee' to incentivize miners to include their transactions faster. Additionally, the base fee is burned, removing Ether from circulation, which could potentially increase its value over time. Shortly after its implementation, over $1 billion worth of Ether had been burned.

As of September 2021, there were approximately 117.5 million ETH in circulation. Of these, 72 million were created in the genesis block, with 60 million allocated to the initial crowd sale contributors and 12 million to the development fund. The remaining ETH has been issued as block rewards to miners. The reward started at 5 ETH per block in 2015, decreased to 3 ETH in late 2017, and then to 2 ETH in early 2019. The mining time per block averages 13-15 seconds. The London hard fork in August 2021 introduced EIP-1559, which burns a portion of transaction fees, potentially affecting the supply over time.

As of August 2020, Ethereum uses the Ethash proof-of-work algorithm, which belongs to the Keccak hash function family. However, there are plans to transition to proof-of-stake with the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade, which began in late 2020. Staking became possible after the Beacon Chain launch in December 2020, where users can deposit 32 ETH to become validators. Validators help secure the network and earn rewards, currently around 6% APR. The exact returns depend on the total amount staked. This transition aims to improve scalability and energy efficiency, though the full implementation is still underway.

Ethereum is available on virtually all major cryptocurrency exchanges, given its status as the second-largest cryptocurrency. Some of the most popular platforms include Binance, Coinbase Pro, OKEx, Kraken, and Huobi Global. These exchanges offer trading pairs such as ETH/USD, ETH/GBP, ETH/AUD, and ETH/JPY, allowing users to buy Ethereum with various fiat currencies or other cryptocurrencies. The availability and specific pairs may vary depending on the exchange and the user's location.