# Ethereum Mainnet

Ethereum is the original smart contract platform that pioneered programmable blockchain technology. Launched in 2015, it remains the most widely used platform for decentralized applications, DeFi protocols, and NFTs.

## Overview

- **Chain ID**: 1
- **Currency**: ETH (Ether)
- **Consensus**: Proof of Stake (since The Merge, 2022)
- **Block Time**: ~12 seconds

## Key Features

### Smart Contracts
Ethereum introduced the concept of Turing-complete smart contracts, enabling developers to build complex decentralized applications (dApps) that execute automatically when conditions are met.

### EVM Compatibility
The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) has become the industry standard. Most other blockchain networks are EVM-compatible, allowing code portability across chains.

### DeFi Ecosystem
Ethereum hosts the largest DeFi ecosystem, including major protocols like Uniswap, Aave, Compound, MakerDAO, and thousands of others managing billions in total value locked (TVL).

### NFTs and Digital Assets
ERC-721 and ERC-1155 standards originated on Ethereum, establishing the foundation for the NFT ecosystem.

## Layer 2 Solutions

To address scalability, Ethereum has a thriving Layer 2 ecosystem:
- **Optimistic Rollups**: Optimism, Arbitrum, Base
- **ZK Rollups**: zkSync, StarkNet, Polygon zkEVM

## Resources

- [Ethereum.org](https://ethereum.org) - Official website
- [Developer Documentation](https://ethereum.org/developers)
- [GitHub](https://github.com/ethereum)