Ethereum is the blockchain that opened the [cryptocurrency](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/cryptocurrency "This link will take you away from hive.blog") sector to decentralized finance. If you have even a minor interest in [blockchain](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/blockchain "This link will take you away from hive.blog") technology you will know about [Bitcoin](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-bitcoin "This link will take you away from hive.blog") , Ethereum, Vitalik and few other things!
Ethereum and Ether are not the same, as some may believe! Ethereum the [blockchain ](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/blockchain "This link will take you away from hive.blog")created by Vitalik and [Ether](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-eth) (or $ETH) is the [cryptocurrency ](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/cryptocurrency "This link will take you away from hive.blog")that powers the network!
Ethereum is an open-source blockchain platform and the base layer on which decentralized applications (dApps) can run. It is often referred as [mainnet](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-mainnet), to differentiate it from all the layer-2 chains that were built on Ethereum.
A[ layer-2 chain ](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-layer-2)is the secondary layer or [++protocol++](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-protocol) built on top of a [++blockchain++](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/blockchain), usually created to [++scale++](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-scability-scaling) the ecosystem.
[Ether](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-eth), or $ETH is the native cryptocurrency used by the Ethereum network. It is used to pay transaction fees and can be bought or sold on exchanges.
Let's talk about[ gwei ](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-gwei)and how we often check it before doing transactions! The term is used to define the cost of gas on the [++Ethereum++](https://leofinance.io/@crypto-guides/what-is-ethereum-eth) [++blockchain++](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/blockchain) and how much a [++transactions++](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-transaction) on the [++network++](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-network) will cost, depending on the amount of traffic and chain usage.
Don't get me wrong ... I don't hate Ethereum, I hate high gas fees. I had 40 Ethereum in my hey days and sold them all. I love you 3000!
[**Ethereum History!**](https://leofinance.io/posts/@crypto-guides/what-is-ethereum-eth)
The idea of the Ethereum [blockchain](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/blockchain "This link will take you away from hive.blog") was created in 2013, by Vitalik Buterin and Gavin Wood in 2013. Shall we celebrate 10 years of ETH this year or wait until 2025?
Vitalik story started early, as he co-founded the Bitcoin Magazine in 2011. The "made" the Ethereum chain a reality by eventually launching the network in 2015, as a platform where dApps can be built.
Ethereum works on smart contracts, the codes that carries out a list of instructions and replaced the human third party required to act as an intermediary or verifier.
The blockchain was able to create new [cryptocurrencies ](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/cryptocurrency "This link will take you away from hive.blog")and helped the crypto [market ](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-market "This link will take you away from hive.blog")to evolve.
Hacks were a thing since the crypto genesis, and the [++Ethereum++](https://leofinance.io/@crypto-guides/what-is-ethereum-eth) [++blockchain++](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/blockchain) has a story to tell! Approximately 3.6 million [Ether ](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-eth)were stolen in 2016, after a hack to a third party application called The DAO.
The devs decided that the stolen amount should be added back to the accounts of the original owners and a hard fork of the chain was initiated. This is how the
The resulting new ledger created (the one reversing the hack and restoring the accounts), became what we now know as the main [++Ethereum++](https://leofinance.io/@crypto-guides/what-is-ethereum-eth) [++chain.++](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/blockchain) However, after many upgrades and the glorified merge ... the transactions fees are still insane!
The [++Ethereum++](https://leofinance.io/@crypto-guides/what-is-ethereum-eth) gas fees are the main disadvantage of market adoption as astronomically high fees will keep away the small investors. The fee used to pay for the transaction, the [gwei](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-gwei), was so high and volatile that the crypto community started to look for alternatives, and many chose [layer-2 chains ](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-layer-2)for [DeFi](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-decentralized-finance-defi "This link will take you away from hive.blog") investments.
Fees up to $100 - $150 have nothing to do with the current crypto climate and are feeding the anti-crypto movement. What's the point of earning crypto if the fee to claim is higher than the [earned income](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-earned-income)?
The annual carbon footprint and the annual power consumption are other negative aspects of Ethereum. Ethereum power consumption is 43.17 TWh, equal to the annual power consumption of Hungary, while the carbon footprint is 20,5 Mt CO2, equal to the annual Carbon Footprint of Bolivia
Scalability comes into the mix when we analyze the power consumption and carbon footprint for single transactions. One transaction will consume power similar to an average US household in nearly 3 days while the carbon footprint is equal to the equivalent of 84k VISA transactions.
I am sure that [Elon Musk](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-elon-musk) didn't checked this data when he said Bitcoin is not so green, as definitely Ethereum is not eco-friendly either. The numbers above are quite concerning and I do hope that the future will bring [cryptocurrencies](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/cryptocurrency "This link will take you away from hive.blog") with less impact on the environment.
**My ETH experience**
Back in 2015 I sold 1.6 BTC for £320, choosing £100 profit over 6 months, instead of £30000 profit in few years. I learned to live with the fact that I said no to a huge bag of money!
This was a huge disappointment but I didn't abandoned the idea of [crypto ](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/cryptocurrency "This link will take you away from hive.blog")investments! I had a gut feeling that something called [++Ethereum++](https://leofinance.io/@crypto-guides/what-is-ethereum-eth) will be the next successful coin.
I bought 12 [Ether](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-eth) in November 2016 for £98.86, than more at the end of the same month for a similar amount but at a cheaper price, paying 98.25 for 15 [Ether](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-eth).
To round up the portfolio, I bought 13 [Ether](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-eth) for £77.66, as a Christmas gift in December 2016. I paid £274,77 for 40 [Ether](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-eth) and £13.11 fees, buying at 8.24, 6.55 and 5.98 per unit on those transactions. Let's round it up to £288 and move on to better days when the crypto market thrived.
In May 2017, the [Ether](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-eth) price per unit was £37.70 so I sold 10 ETH for 376.99 to get back what I invested. At this point I made £90 profit and had 30 [Ether](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-eth) in my portfolio and I decided to wait until I was happy to sell again. I set an realistic target and I told myself that I will sell some if the price per unit will rise above £150.
In June 2017, the price per unit reached £172. I sold 6 [Ether](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-eth) for £1031.96 just before my birthday and booked a family holiday in Tenerife. This can be considered as a holiday where crypto was used as [payment!](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-payment "This link will take you away from hive.blog")
Up to date profit reached £1122. Set the next milestone at £220, which was achieved in a month, so in July 2017 I sold 4 ETH at €243.92 per unit, generating €975.65 profit. Half of the amount I re-invested in shares, crowdfunding, or fractions of properties but I will touch this subject in a future post.
Between July and August 2017 I sold the remaining 20 [Ether](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-eth), being more than happy with the price per unit, over €180, adding €1801.05 and €1850.80 to the amount of profit generated by Ethereum. With the last three transactions, the total profit gained by investing in ETH reached £5750 in one year.
In January 2018, ETH reached his peak, at £1043.65 and some will say that more patience would generate a record profit, but I can say that years after, I am more than happy about this investment, and the timing of buy/sell decisions. The 40 ETH I had could have been valued at £ 41746 at one point but I am happy about what this investment.
I am currently holding 1 ETH in my portfolio, which I plan to HODL until the price will go over £3000 and reinvest it in new assets and rising stars [altcoins](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-altcoin "This link will take you away from hive.blog").
Keep in mind that the best moment to buy is when coins and tokens are added to the [market](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-market "This link will take you away from hive.blog") or when the prices are very low, comparing the their average value in the past year.
Don't be greedy! If you are happy with the current price per unit, don't wait a day or two for some extra money. It is true that the price can keep growing but what if everything crushes and the price will drop lower then the investment?
If at any point in time, you consider that a [cryptocurrency](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/cryptocurrency "This link will take you away from hive.blog") reached his potential and it's nothing more in there, sell and re-invest a fraction in another project, maybe a really cheap coin. 
[++**Across**++](https://across.to/?referrer=0x4f49D938c3Ad2437c52eb314F9bD7Bdb7FA58Da9)** Protocol and the bridge **[++**Ethereum**++](https://leofinance.io/@crypto-guides/what-is-ethereum-eth)** deserves!**
[++Across Protocol++](https://across.to/?referrer=0x4f49D938c3Ad2437c52eb314F9bD7Bdb7FA58Da9) created a pioneer bridge between [mainnet ](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-mainnet)and [layer-2 chains ](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-layer-2)such as Optimism, Arbitrum and Polygon.
[Across](https://across.to/?referrer=0x4f49D938c3Ad2437c52eb314F9bD7Bdb7FA58Da9) is the bridge that Ethereum deserves, being fast and financially efficient! The [Across](https://across.to/?referrer=0x4f49D938c3Ad2437c52eb314F9bD7Bdb7FA58Da9) bridge connects Layer 2 and rollups to L1 Ethereum, being secured by the UMA's optimistic [oracle](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-decentralized-oracle "This link will take you away from hive.blog"). It has a single liquidity pool, a competitive relayer landscape, and a no-slippage fee model.
But the story just started ... as [Across](https://across.to/?referrer=0x4f49D938c3Ad2437c52eb314F9bD7Bdb7FA58Da9) keeps upgrading! The launch of the $ACX token was another step forward, which will lead to[ DAO](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-decentralized-autonomous-organization-dao "This link will take you away from hive.blog") governance and a top synergy between the project and the community. Was this the end of the innovation? No.... [Across](https://across.to/?referrer=0x4f49D938c3Ad2437c52eb314F9bD7Bdb7FA58Da9) constantly implements ground breaking solutions and tools, constantly promoting the crypto [decentralization](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-decentralization "This link will take you away from hive.blog") and implementing [blockchain](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/blockchain "This link will take you away from hive.blog") technology in the Cryptoverse.
But why is the ACX Reward Locking a game changer? Most liquidity mining programs do not encourage and reward long-term supporters of the project, as token dumps are a common thing.
Most [DeFi](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-decentralized-finance-defi "This link will take you away from hive.blog") protocols will treat everyone the same. and a loyal liquidity provider, who has remained in a pool for a significant period of time and has not sold their token rewards, will earns the same APY as a mercenary liquidity provider. Is this fair? The mercenary liquidity providers choose to come and go, constantly dumping what they have farmed while the loyal LP provider suffers the aftermaths.
The [Across Protocol](https://across.to/?referrer=0x4f49D938c3Ad2437c52eb314F9bD7Bdb7FA58Da9) Reward Locking aims to change this broken system and enhance the rewards of loyal holders. This model is the enhanced version of traditional liquidity mining and discourages farm-and-dump activity as holders will earn faster as the LP stays untouched.
Token bridging will remain essential for any permutation of the cross-chain future, and Across will keep focusing on building the best possible technology to transfer value across blockchains.
The novel interest rate lending model, protocol-level rebalancing and dynamic fund management capabilities will maximize capital efficiency. The new challenge is to expand on multiple EVM chains and absorb finality risk via the network of fast relayers. All this is to promote [decentralizated finance and the power of the Ethereum blockchain](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-decentralization "This link will take you away from hive.blog").
The [DAO](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-decentralized-autonomous-organization-dao "This link will take you away from hive.blog") governance will power the innovation, the optimistic governance (oSnap) was integrated. Across is committed to decentralization, and oSnap will empower the [DAO](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-decentralized-autonomous-organization-dao "This link will take you away from hive.blog") to execute the results of Snapshot votes on-chain independently. This is a departure from the standard of most [DAOs](https://leofinance.io/posts/@leoglossary/leoglossary-decentralized-autonomous-organization-dao "This link will take you away from hive.blog"), which use mutlsigs to carry out votes, which is both censorable and centralized.
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