Understanding And Using Ethereum

in #ethereum6 years ago (edited)

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CC0, Modified, From Pixabay

If you are in cryptocurrency world for a while then you must have heard of Ethereum by now.

It's second biggest cryptocurrecy by marketcap (Market cap = Circulating Supply * Price) after Bitcoin.

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum is a platform that is specifically designed for people to build kinds of decentralised applications (dApps).

Vitalik Buterin — Ethereum Founder

dApps are applications that run on a P2P network, they are open source and they run on a multiple computers. In order to consider applications as dApps there are certain set of characteristics that needs to be followed.

What are smart contracts?

Smart Contracts are code that is run and executed on Blockchain when certain condition is met.

What are ICOs?

ICO. pretty familiar term, isn't it?

What is an ICO?

ICO stands for Initial Coin Offering. Usually, before the new cryptocurrency emerges, the individual or company will need to raise money for all the technical development that is needed. So, they usually sell tokens in exchange for more established cryptocurrencies.

Most start-ups chose Ethereum platform to conduct an ICO.

When you buy tokens from ICO, a smart contract has rules written into it. For example, if the ICO doesn’t raise enough money, all of the money invested will be returned to the investor, or that one cannot transfer new tokens until the ICO is successfully concluded.

Relation Between dApp and Smart Contracts.

dApp is frontend while smart contract is backend which includes all logic that connects to the blockchain.

Difference between Ethereum and Ether

Ether and Ethereum are terms that are often used in the same context, but they are different.

Ethereum is network/platform where Dapps run, when Ether is fuel that powers the network. Ether is how people pay for things in the ethereum network. For example, you need Ether to pay fees.

Ether can be bought and sold, and its price also fluctuates based on the supply and demand. So, when somebody says that he has invested in ethereum, he has actually bought ether.

Making Ethereum Wallet

There are multiple ethereum wallets are available, one of the most popular one is MyEtherWallet or simply known as MEW.

Creating Ethereum wallet on MyEtherWallet(MEW)

There are tons of tutorial available on this topic, so I will just link easiest and straight forward one here. (I don't want to make already long article more long!)

Remember to take secure backup up of private key. If you lose it or someone gets access to it. It's over.

MyEtherWallet is client side wallet, this means wallet decrypts on your web browser. Use MEW Offline/ With MetaMask or use Hardware wallet to stay secure at highest degree.

Understanding Transaction Fees on ethereum platform

On ethereum platform transaction fees gets calculated on two measures. Gas Price and Gas Limit.

Gas limit means the highest amount of gas you are willing to spend on transaction. Most Ether transactions require gas limit of 21,000 and Token transactions require 200,000.

MEW will automatically suggest you the recommend gas limit, and you can change the gas price using the slider at top right. How much? Use EthGasStation.

Transaction Fees = Gas price*Gas limit

For example, if you chose 4 gwei Gas Price and 200,000 Gas Limit then your MAX transaction cost would be:

200000*4=800000 Gwei

Converting to ether that would be 0.0008 ETH.

If you want to faster up your transaction then pay high gas price.

Sending Ethereum transaction with myetherwallet

  • Go to: https://www.myetherwallet.com/ [I'd recommend you to give those pop-ups a read. Very important security tips].

  • Click on Send Ether & Tokens.

  • Select the preferred method and unlock your wallet.

  • Now, enter destination address where you want to send Ether in first box and Amount in second.

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Gas limit will automatically be filled by MEW. If it doesn't for some reason then go with 21,000 for Ether transfers and 200,000 for Ethereum token transfers. You may want to change gas price from top right corner as it flunctuates a lot. Go here: http://ethgasstation.info to find optimal gas price for particular time.

  • Click on generate transaction and confirm the transaction. That's it your transaction has been sent to Blockchain. You can click on "Check TX Status" to see its status.

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So that was for sending Ether, to send Ethereum tokens you need to add them first.


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Copy "contract address" and remember decimals that shows up below it.

  • Go back to MEW, click on "Add custom token" and fill up the fields. In first field, paste the contract address that you just copied. In second one, token symbol and in third one number of decimals. Click save. Some tokens are already there just click on "Show Tokens" button.

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  • Now, to send tokens. Select token you want to transfer and repeat the above process.

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Video Guide (not mine)

Trading Ethereum Based Tokens on Etherdelta/Forkdelta


I am using Forkdelta as an example for this article. There is very negligible difference between Forkdelta and Etherdelta in terms of User Interface. If you have any doubts feel free to comment.


You can trade all Ethereum based tokens whether they are officially listed or not by using token's contract address.

For example, I want to trade Helbiz token then I will go to etherscan, find its contract address and replace DAI with it, in the following link.

https://forkdelta.github.io/#!/trade/DAI-ETH

Finding Contract Address

Go to the given link, search token name and copy contract address: https://etherscan.io/tokens

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Now, Just replace DAI with contract address that you copied in above step. End link will look like this.

https://forkdelta.github.io/#!/trade/0xe34e1944e776f39b9252790a0527ebda647ae668-ETH

Using forkdelta

With Metamask (Recommended) :. Creating Metamask wallet

Just open forkdelta with Metamask and your wallet will be automatically identified by forkdelta.

Metamask alternative for mobile devices.

Cipher for IoS | Cipher for Android

With Ledger Nano S (recommended)

Click on "Ledger Nano S" at top right and follow the instructions that show up.

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With private key (not recommended)

Click on "Import Account" at top right corner, a box will pop up enter your "ethereum address" in first field and your "ethereum private key" in second box.

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Fees on Forkdelta/Etherdelta

When you deposit/withdraw ether or ethereum tokens you will be charged fees.

Default fees is 4 gwei, this can be changed. To do so,

Click on your address, and chose the last option saying "Gas Price".

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Again use this site to find out what is ideal gas price for particular time. Ethgasstation.info

On top of this, for anyone executing an order, a 0.3% fee is charged. If you’re buying a token, the fee is charged in ether, if you’re selling a token the fee is charged in the token you’re selling.

Selling token on Forkdelta

First, deposit the token you want to trade to forkdelta.

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Once transactions are confirmed you will see token in forkdelta.

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Now, you are ready to trade.

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Red colored orders are sell orders and green colored are buy orders. Click on them to fill them. You can create your own new order as well.

Video Guide (not mine)

Tracking Balances using Deltabalances

I came across deltabalances when I used to hunt for airdrops.

It lets you keep track of your ether and ethereum tokens in your personal wallet and on forkdelta/etherdelta wallet, and shows token's estimated price according to bids on the exchange.

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Withdrawing from etherdelta when it's offline

Smart contracts reside on Blockchain and there is no way they can be taken down. Forkdelta/etherdelta works on smart contract so even if either of them goes offline you can withdraw your funds.

Here is guide to do the same,

https://www.reddit.com/r/KinFoundation/comments/7l6lgc/guide_on_removing_tokens_from_etherdelta_during/

Tracking your ethereum transactions on etherscan

Just go to https://ethescan.io and enter your address. It wi show you your current holdings and all transactions.

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Securing your Ethereum/Cryptocurrency:

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By @Jennifer Leigh


CC2, Modified, TechCrunch/Flickr


Thank you for reading, I hope you learned something new from it!

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Coins mentioned in post:

CoinPrice (USD)📉 24h📉 7d
BTCBitcoin8458.230$-5.72%-13.6%
DAIDai1.015$1.26%1.63%
ETHEthereum681.879$-7.05%-14.87%
GASGas25.449$-12.17%-23.02%
NANONano6.142$-13.32%-33.87%

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