Developers compiled Solidity to EVM bytecodeIntermediate instructions produced by compilers — often executed by a virtual machine rather than the CPU directly. and deployed with `geth` or Mist wallets. The ICO boom, UniswapA decentralized exchange protocol on Ethereum — automated market makers for token swaps., and NFTNon-fungible token — a blockchain record proving ownership of a unique digital asset. standards all ran on this chain. proof-of-workA consensus mechanism — miners compete to solve puzzles to validate blocks and earn rewards. mining secured the network until the 2022 Merge moved consensus to proof-of-stake.

Frontier turned Ethereum from a crowdsale promise into a live smart-contract platform.

It launched the dominant programmable blockchainA distributed ledger where records are chained cryptographically — designed for tamper-resistant shared state. for DeFiDecentralized finance — lending, trading, and derivatives on blockchains without traditional banks. and Web3 apps.