This URL is from 24 April 2020. We rewrote it in August 2026 so it does not read like a 2017 ICO explainer. The longer, current pillar is Ethereum without the jargon. Keep this address if you bookmarked it; use that piece when you want gas, tokens, and approvals in more depth.
What Ethereum is
Bitcoin is mostly a ledger of who can spend which coins. Ethereum is a ledger that can also follow instructions. Those programs are called smart contracts. They are not wise, and they are not legal contracts. They do what the code says — including the bugs — if you pay the fee.
What ETH is
Ether (ETH) is the native asset. You use it to pay for computation (“gas”) and, if you choose, to help secure the network by staking. You can hold ETH and never touch an application. You can also spend ETH as fuel while a token or NFT sits in the same wallet. Mixing those ideas is how people send the right ticker on the wrong network.
What a token on Ethereum is not
A token is a balance inside a contract. Your wallet displays it with an icon. That is not the same as ETH, and it is not automatically “safe because it is on Ethereum”. Copycats reuse tickers. Unlimited token approvals are convenient for apps and convenient for thieves.
Fees jump for a boring reason
Block space is limited. When many people want to use the machine at once, they bid up gas. Layer-2 networks batch work to lower fees. They are related to Ethereum, not identical. Sending to an address on the wrong layer is a common, painful mistake.
A calmer next step
Learn addresses and networks first. Practise with an amount that would only annoy you. Read the jargon-light Ethereum guide before you treat a dapp homepage as a tutorial. This page is information, not a recommendation to buy ETH, to stake, or to use any particular app.
