兴趣爱好But the bitcoin blockchain is confined to enabling digital, decentralised money – meaning money that is not issued from any central institution unlike, say, dollars. Ethereum’s blockchain is categorically different in that it can host both other digital tokens or coins, and decentralised applications. In 2022, Ethereum plans to switch to proof-of-stake with its Ethereum 2.0 update. This switch has been in the Ethereum roadmap since the network's inception and would see a new consensus mechanism, as well as introduce sharding as a scaling solution. The current Ethereum chain will become the Beacon Chain and serve as a settlement layer for smart contract interactions on other chains. Ethereum is a layer-1 blockchain solution and the second most valuable cryptocurrency globally by market capitalization. Ethereum’s decentralized ecosystem focuses on banking, gaming and app creation, leading to it being dubbed the “world’s programmable blockchain.” Ethereum is also the name of the native cryptocurrency on the Ethereum blockchain.