As I began building Urban Crypto with the goal of collecting as much information in one place for users to learn about Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), I realized how detailed and confusing the underworkings of the Ethereum Network are. If you are already knowledgeable and know the ins and outs of blockchain technology, more specifically that which applies to the Ethereum Network, then you probably do not need to continue reading.
What is Ethereum Network 101?
There are many of us who have heard of blockchain technology and this great ‘Ethereum’. If you are one of us, then a lot of the information provided across the web can be confusing. If you have become interested in Ethereum and its workings because you have heard of all the new ICOs coming out and the money being moved around, you may not understand the basic foundational elements of the network. My intention, through a series of posts that I am working on, which is labeled “Ethereum Network 101”, is to take the journey together with you and see if we can understand exactly what Ethereum is and how it works.
What Ethereum Network 101 Is Not
I am not going to detail the technical parts of the network in mathematical terms but hope to give you a better understanding of how the information flows on the network and what is happening. Let me give you an example. One excerpt from the Ethereum Yellowpaper (link below in the Resource Section) is:
“2. The Blockchain Paradigm Ethereum, taken as a whole, can be viewed as a transaction-based state machine: we begin with a genesis state and incrementally execute transactions to morph it into some final state. It is this final state which we accept as the canonical “version” of the world of Ethereum. The state can include such information as account balances, reputations, trust arrangements, data pertaining to information of the physical world; in short, anything that can currently be represented by a computer is admissible. Transactions thus represent a valid arc between two states; the ‘valid’ part is important—there exist far more invalid state changes than valid state changes. Invalid state changes might, e.g., be things such as reducing an account balance without an equal and opposite increase elsewhere. A valid state transition is one which comes about through a transaction. Formally: (1) σt+1 ≡ Υ(σt, T) where Υ is the Ethereum state transition function. In Ethereum, Υ, together with σ are considerably more powerful than any existing comparable system; Υ allows components to carry out arbitrary computation, while σ allows components to store arbitrary state between transactions.”
I am not sure about you but this does not seem to be written for the average person interested in this emerging technology and the new companies building their projects on it. I don’t claim to understand what “Formally: (1) σt+1 ≡ Υ(σt, T) where Υ is the Ethereum state transition function. In Ethereum, Υ, together with σ are considerably more powerful than any existing comparable system; Υ allows components to carry out arbitrary computation, while σ allows components to store arbitrary state between transactions” means, and if you are still reading this page, I assume you don’t either.
I don’t believe we have to understand the complex mathematics behind the blockchain, the same way I don’t understand how I can write this post, put it on the internet, through my laptop, which connects to something called “wifi” and is based on computer technology that started as only zeros and ones. I do understand however that some brilliant programmers have figured out how to accomplish this amazing feat and I know enough about the basics to understand what I am doing and how to use it to my benefit.
The Goal of Ethereum Network 101
Hopefully, as we move through this series of posts, Ethereum 101, we can learn together the basic terminologies, concepts, and abilities of the Ethereum Network. This will give us the ability to understand how to benefit from it properly. If you only use Ether, the Ethereum Cryptocurrency, or are interested in investing in the various projects being built on the network I aim to give you a basic understanding of what is going on.
So if this sounds interesting to you and you are ready to take the ride together, please register below and you will receive an email when each new post is created. This will be a journey but I hope to take the express lane and get us there as soon as possible.