About Ethereum

Today the number of Ethereum transactions exceed that of Bitcoin. Both these cryptos are based on the same fundamental principle, but Ethereum has a few distinctive features. The most important among them is the greater degree of privacy that it offers. Every time you use Ethereum, the transaction is added to a ledger on a blockchain, which is a decentralized network.

In other words, the data associated with Ethereum transactions is not controlled by a single authority. The information is split in pieces and stored in the decentralized network on different high-speed computers. As a result, the transactions made using this cryptocurrency are highly secure.

The concept of Ethereum was presented by Vitalik Buterin for the first time in 2013 in a white paper. He is a programmer and had co-founded the Bitcoin Magazine along with Vladimir Marchenko, Mihai Alisie, Vicente S, and Matthew N. Wright. The white paper explained a way to build applications that were decentralized.

In January 2014, the announcement of Ethereum was made at the North American Bitcoin Conference held in Miami. The work on incorporating executable smart contracts in the Ethereum blockchain was done by Gavin Wood. This led to the founding of the Ethereum Foundation. The funding for this development project came through online public crowd sale.

The cryptocurrency was finally launched on July 30, 2015. Ether became the second largest cryptocurrency by January 2018 in terms of market capitalization. The Ethereum network went through two network upgrades in 2021. One was ‘Berlin’ that was done on April 14. The second upgrade was ‘London’, done on August 5.

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How does Ethereum compare to other payment methods?

It is quite obvious that Ethereum offers a higher level of privacy and anonymity than the traditional payment methods. While making deposits or withdrawals using credit cards or bank transfers, you’re required to provide certain details. There’s always a risk of such information falling into the wrong hands. As no real-world identities are revealed on the blockchain network, Ethereum doesn’t carry such risks.

There are some payment methods that don’t require users to reveal their personal details online. Among the best examples in this regard are prepaid vouchers. You typically need to enter only the number given on these vouchers during the transactions. However, there’s a risk of these cards getting lost or stolen. The only advantage of using them is that your transactions are processed instantly.

The popular e-wallets are also secure to a great extent, but not all of them would help you maintain anyonymity. When it comes to other cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is certainly superior to Ethereum in terms of processing speed, but the latter has the advantage of Smart Contracts. This feature provides added security to the transactions made using this cryptocurrency.

Ethereum Gas Fees

Ethereum charges gas fees on transactions, which involve sending and receiving this cryptocurrency through its blockchain. Here, the term ‘gas’ refers to the unit measuring the amount of computational efforts needed for executing operations on the Ethereum network. So, a ‘gas fee’ refers to the fee charged for conducting a transaction successfully on the network of Ethereum.

The users are required to pay gas fees in this blockchain’s native currency, which is Ether or ETH. After the ‘London’ upgrade, there was a considerable change in Ethereum’s transaction fees. The fees charged would greatly depend on the network’s transactional capacity at the time of execution. Ethereum’s gas fees varies based on the transactional capacity during certain days of the week.

A particular time of the day and some off-peak hours might result in lower fees. The wallet you use for your Ethereum transactions have built-in calculators. They can automatically calculate the gas fees for you. If they’re not automatically set, you’ll need to set them manually.

How secure is Ethereum?

Since cryptocurrency transactions take place on a highly secure blockchain network, they’re generally secure. Ethereum transactions are verified for their validity and integrity on the blockchain network. Besides, you don’t need to provide any sensitive financial or personal details while making a transaction using Ethereum. This makes it a secure payment method for players of the online casinos.

However, there are certain measures that you need to take for ensuring better security while using Ethereum. This involves playing only in the online casinos that are certified by a leading casino gaming authority. The gaming authority of the government of Curacao and Malta Gaming Authority are the best examples.