Ether is the main cryptocurrency associated with the Ethereum blockchain; each of the contract accounts can create their own currency, but Ether is used within the Ethereum blockchain to pay for the execution of the contracts on the EVM. Ether is used for purchasing gas, and the smallest unit of Ether is used as the unit of gas.
Since Wei is the smallest unit of Wei, here is a table, listing the denominations and the name commonly used for them, along with the associated value:
There are various ways by which Ether can be procured for trading, building smart contracts, or decentralized applications:
- Mining of Ethers, by either joining a mining pool or doing solo mining
- Trade using a crypto exchange platform, and exchange from any other cryptocurrency
- Buying Ether from any fiat currency—there are various exchanges that allow the purchasing of Ether from fiat currency