Mastering Blockchain Programming with Solidity

Ether currency

Ethereum has its own cryptocurrency called ether (symbol: ETH). Ether is a fungible coin, which means that a coin can be subdivided into smaller units. For example, 1 ETH can be subdivided into a maximum of 18 decimal places; the smallest value is called wei. Ether is a crypto fuel for the Ethereum network.

For any transaction you perform on the Ethereum network, some gas is consumed to execute that transaction, and the gas is to be paid in ether only. This transaction fee that you pay to process your transaction goes to the miners.

Ether is publicly traded on many centralized and decentralized exchanges. Some decentralized exchanges are also built upon the Ethereum blockchain itself using Solidity smart contracts.