Ethereum is the native token of the Ethereum network that pioneered the building of decentralized applications on the blockchain. Ethereum powers everything from DeFi and games to stablecoins and the metaverse.

Ethereum kicked off the "smart contracts" era in 2014. The network is home to many kinds of online programs that run on its distributed networks. The decentralized nature of Ethereum secures the dapps that use it from outside censorship.

Many popular cryptocurrencies are built on Ethereum's native ERC-20 protocol. All these apps and tokens need to spend ETH to keep using the network. This constantly drives up demand for Ethereum, making it a great option for crypto investors.