# Ethereum At a market cap of roughly 500 billion USD, Ethereum is the second largest cryptocurrency. Unlike Bitcoin, which is purely a store of wealth, Ethereum has great utility. Ethereum is a platform for creating and running applications called *smart contracts.* > Now, what are smart contracts? Think of them as digital agreements that automatically execute when certain conditions are met. For example, let's say you want to buy a concert ticket online. With a smart contract, once you pay for the ticket, the contract automatically sends you the ticket without needing someone to manually handle the transaction. To put[ ](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]it simply, Ethereum is an ecosystem in which people/companies can build new projects and cryptocurrencies on top of, for varying purposes. $ETH is the currency that is used within this ecosystem. For more on Ethereum, click [here](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/ethereum.asp). [^1]: --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://solanaupdate.gitbook.io/the-crypto-bible/investing/building-a-portfolio/ethereum.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.