> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.nexex.info/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.nexex.info/concepts/ethereum-erc20-and-dex.md).

# Ethereum, ERC20 and DEX

## Ethereum

> **Ethereum** is an [open-source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software), [public](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_blockchain), [blockchain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain_\(database\))-based [distributed computing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_computing) platform and [operating system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system) featuring [smart contract](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_contract) -- Wikipedia.com

Welcome to the exciting world of building applications on the [Ethereum Blockchain](https://www.ethereum.org/). With Ethereum you can deploy applications or "Smart Contracts" that perform operations and persist state using a decentralized network of computers. Ethereum is often described as a platform for programming digital money. A transaction executes and is confirmed and verified by hundreds of different machines (nodes) distributed around the world. If you want to understand the how blockchains fundamentally work checkout [this visual explanation](https://anders.com/blockchain/). If you'd like to read more about Ethereum specifically, visit this [beginners guide to Ethereum](https://blog.coinbase.com/a-beginners-guide-to-ethereum-46dd486ceecf).Now that you have a basic understanding of what Ethereum is and does, let's talk about tokens. Fungible tokens (commonly referred to as [ERC20](https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/issues/20)) are simple smart contracts that track the transfer of a unit of account. You can request this smart contract to [transfer](https://github.com/OpenZeppelin/zeppelin-solidity/blob/master/contracts/token/ERC20/BasicToken.sol#L31) tokens from your account to anyone else's. Others may also transfer tokens from their account to you. All of these requests are transactions on the Ethereum blockchain and cost a small transaction fee. For more information check out the [beginner's guide to Ethereum Tokens](https://blog.coinbase.com/a-beginners-guide-to-ethereum-tokens-fbd5611fe30b).

## DEX (decentralized exchange)

A DEX is a decentralized exchange and is essentially a new type of pair matching that allows people to place orders and trade cryptocurrencies without an intermediary institution managing the ledger or controlling user funds. [What is a Dex](https://coincentral.com/dex-decentralized-exchanges-explained).