2 Ethereum (ETH) — Ethereum

What is it? A smart contract platform that enables the building of decentralized applications (dApps) and the creation of tokens (like ERC-20 and NFT). crypto.com

How it works: It transitioned from proof of work to proof of stake (The Merge, September 2022), which significantly reduced energy consumption. Ether is used to pay for 'gas' fees. ethereum.org+1

Its uses: DeFi, NFT, DAOs, advanced decentralized applications.

Risks: High gas fees sometimes on the main network, need for layer-2 solutions to expand usage.