Analysis of the Concepts and Applications of ETH: Finance, Online Payments and Transactions

With the rapid development of blockchain technology, encrypted assets have gradually become an important component of the global financial system. This study aims to analyze the concept of Ethereum (ETH) and its applications in finance, online payments, and transactions. This article first reviews the development history and research progress of blockchain, and then explores the current situation of the cryptocurrency market, with a focus on analyzing the basic characteristics and encryption algorithms of Ethereum. In the application section, this article discusses in detail the various applications of Ethereum in decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFT), revealing its important role in promoting financial innovation and digital asset management. At the same time, the article also points out the limitations of Ethereum in terms of technical bottlenecks, compliance, and user education. Nevertheless, the future is still full of hope. Through this study, academia and industry practitioners can gain a deeper understanding of the potential and challenges of Ethereum, providing important references for its sustained development in the global financial ecosystem.