🔑 Key Concepts: L1, Smart Contracts, Gemini Dapp Companion
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<h1>🔑 Key Concepts: L1, Smart Contracts, Gemini Dapp Companion – Ethereum's Bedrock in 2025</h1>
<p class="read-time"><em>Read Time: ~3 Minutes</em></p>
<p>The Ethereum network, often called the "world computer," didn't just appear fully formed. Its foundation, known as Layer 1 (L1), is the bedrock upon which the entire decentralized economy is built. Understanding where we started—and why L1 is still critical—is the key to grasping Web3, especially in the post-Fusaka era of December 2025.</p>
<img src="https://ethereum.org/en/roadmap/dencun/blobs.png" alt="Ethereum L1 Illustration: Visualizing the settlement layer securing the decentralized world.">
<p class="caption">Ethereum L1: The Immutable Foundation of Web3.</p>
<h2>From Genesis to The Merge – Ethereum's Evolution</h2>
<p>Ethereum launched in 2015 as a radical new idea: a decentralized platform that could host not just a currency (like Bitcoin) but complex, programmable agreements. This is the importance of Ethereum L1: it provides the core security, decentralization, and finality for every single transaction and smart contract.</p>
<p><strong>How it Started (Proof-of-Work):</strong> Ethereum initially used a system called Proof-of-Work (PoW), similar to Bitcoin, where miners used massive amounts of energy to secure the chain.</p>
<p><strong>The Current Update (Proof-of-Stake):</strong> The monumental "Merge" in 2022 transitioned Ethereum to Proof-of-Stake (PoS). This update dramatically reduced energy consumption (by over 99.95%), increased security, and set the stage for future scalability improvements like sharding (currently progressing with upgrades like the recent Pectra in May 2025 and Fusaka on December 3, 2025).<grok-card data-id="9f4885" data-type="citation_card"></grok-card>