What is ETHREUM?

Ethereum is an open-source, public, blockchain-based distributed computing platform featuring smart contract (scripting) functionality.[2] It provides a decentralized Turing-complete virtual machine, the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which can execute scripts using an international network of public nodes. Ethereum also provides a cryptocurrency token called "ether", which can be transferred between accounts and used to compensate participant nodes for computations performed.[3] "Gas", an internal transaction pricing mechanism, is used to mitigate spam and allocate resources on the network