Ethereum is one kind of digital currency or cryptocurrency, a medium of exchange that exists exclusively online. Ethereum is among the most popular cryptocurrencies, and ranks second in total size (as of August 2021), behind Bitcoin, a coin that’s become synonymous with crypto.

Cryptocurrency has created a lot of controversy, from those who hail it as the world’s next payment system to those who view it merely as a speculative bubble. Here’s what Ethereum is and how it works.

What is Ethereum?
Ethereum is one of literally thousands of cryptocurrencies that have sprung up over the last few years. As the brainchild of 8 co-founders, Ethereum made its debut in 2015. The cryptocurrency or platform is called Ethereum, while the individual unit is called ether (2 ether, 17 ether, etc.)

Ethereum operates on a decentralized computer network, or distributed ledger called a blockchain, which manages and tracks the currency. It can be useful to think of a blockchain as a running receipt of every transaction that’s ever taken place in the cryptocurrency. Computers in the network verify the transactions and ensure the integrity of the data.

This decentralized network is part of the appeal of Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. Users can exchange money without the need for a central intermediary such as a bank, and the lack of a central bank means the currency is nearly autonomous. Ethereum also allows users to make transactions nearly anonymously, even if the transaction is publicly available on the blockchain.

What is Ethereum Miner

Ethereum mining is fundamentally similar to bitcoin mining. Both use proof of work (PoW). PoW is a competitive activity that miners undertake to write transactions to a new block that will be added to the blockchain. A miner successfully mines a new block while competing with fellow miners by running a hashing script.
Why is Ethereum used instead of Bitcoin?
Ethereum was designed with graphics cards in mind for everyday use. The most common mining technique is the use of ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), pieces of hardware specifically designed to mine Bitcoin. Due to the benefits of mining Ethereum with Bitmain Antminer E9 (3Gh), the network is not as decentralized as many think it should be. Smaller players using consumables should have a higher chance of mining Ethereum as it is designed to withstand ASICs.

While this could have serious implications for the gaming community, this is why Ethereum mining has become profitable. Read the full text to know more about it.Antminer has recently announced their most powerful Ethereum miner yet.

The Chinese manufacturer advertises that this is equivalent to 32 NVIDIA RTX 3080 cards while coming in with significantly less power consumption and likely a lower price. The Antminer E9 achieves its 3 GH/s mining speed with a power consumption of just 2556 W which gives it an efficiency of 0.85 J/M which would make it one of the most efficient Ethereum miners available.