Explains how Ether powers the Ethereum network, why gas exists, and how this design both protects the system and gives it a broader economic role
Ether (ETH) is the bloodstream of the Ethereum network. Although it functions as a digital currency, its deeper purpose is to power the system itself. Every action on the Ethereum blockchain — sending tokens, posting smart contracts, or running applications — requires computing. To measure and pay for this work, Ethereum introduced the concept of gas.
Gas represents a unit of how much computing power is needed to perform a particular operation. Each transaction or function on Ethereum consumes a certain amount of gas, depending on complexity. Users pay for this gas in Ether, creating an embedded economy that distributes resources fairly. The more complex the operation, the more gas is required — hence the higher ETH cost.
Protecting the network and incentivizing validators
This design ensures two things. First, it prevents the network from being overloaded by infinite or malicious calculations, since each operation must be paid for. Second, it establishes an incentive structure in which validators earn rewards in Ether to secure and validate the network, so that financial motives match the health of the system.
Over time, Ether has also become an important financial asset beyond the technical function. It is used as collateral in decentralized finance (DeFi), traded on global markets and held as a store of value by people who believe in the programmable money of the future. Nevertheless, at its core, Ether remains the essential fuel that keeps Ethereum decentralized, secure, and operational.