Glossary
Ether
The native asset of Ethereum, used to pay for computation. Not the same word as Ethereum.
Ether (ETH) is what you spend as gas and what validators stake. Ethereum is the network. Headlines collapse the two. You can hold ether without using a DeFi app. You cannot use the apps without paying in ether (or a layer 2’s equivalent arrangement).
A wrapped or staked version of ether is a different token with different risks.
