Ether (ETH) is the cryptocurrency used for many things on the Ethereum network. Fundamentally, it is the only acceptable form of payment for transaction fees, and after , ether is required to validate and propose blocks on Mainnet. Ether is also used as a primary form of collateral in the lending markets, as a unit of account in NFT marketplaces, as payment earned for performing services or selling real-world goods, and more.
Ethereum allows developers to create , which all share a pool of computing power. This shared pool is finite, so Ethereum needs a mechanism to determine who gets to use it. Otherwise, a dapp could accidentally or maliciously consume all network resources, which would block others from accessing it.
The ether cryptocurrency supports a pricing mechanism for Ethereum's computing power. When users want to make a transaction, they must pay ether to have their transaction recognized on the blockchain. These usage costs are known as , and the gas fee depends on the amount of computing power required to execute the transaction and the network-wide demand for computing power at the time.
Therefore, even if a malicious dapp submitted an infinite loop, the transaction would eventually run out of ether and terminate, allowing the network to return to normal.
It is Ethereum and ether — when people reference the "price of Ethereum," they are describing the price of ether.
