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Understanding Ethereum, Bitcoin’s Virtual Cousin

Vitalik Buterin was a fan of Bitcoin before he created the Ethereum network and its virtual currency, Ether. Credit: Steve Jennings/Getty Images

Bitcoin has many cousins and competitors. None have grown more popular than Ethereum, a global computer network with its own virtual currency, called Ether.

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum is a global computing network operating according to rules defined by Ethereum software.

Those rules allow the Ethereum network to be programmed to complete certain types of computing tasks, with every computer on the network completing the task in parallel to ensure it is done correctly. Generally the tasks involve money.

The creator of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, has likened it to a...

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