Abstract : The goal of this article to to breifly summarized and make more accesible the main points of the Ethereum white paper. This article assumes a working knowledge of the basics of cryptocurrencies.
Ethereum is a new cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or Litecoin, but adds a number of new features. Most notably the inclusion of Agents (or contracts in Ethereum jargon). Independant Turing-complete programs that exist on the ethereum blockchain and are distributaly. These Agents can receive Ether (Ethereums currency), transfer Ether, hold balances, even activate other Agents.
Ethereum also attempts to fix some current issues with cryptocurenncy mining, such as specialized hardware, large mining pools that aim to control the network, and the lack of reward for stale blocks, disincentivzing miners with weaker hardware.