Editing Portal:Crypto and Blockchain (section)

=== Ethereum, smart contracts, and Web3-style interfaces ===

Bitcoin is the most historically important cryptocurrency, but modern cryptocurrency development also includes Ethereum and other programmable blockchains. Ethereum introduced a broader model involving accounts, smart contracts, contract ABIs, logs, tokens, decentralized applications, decentralized finance, NFTs, and programmable execution.

Ethereum nodes expose JSON-RPC APIs. Ethereum.org describes the Ethereum JSON-RPC API as the interface used by Ethereum execution clients and notes that consensus clients also have RPC APIs for Beacon-chain data.<ref>Ethereum.org, “JSON-RPC API,” https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/apis/json-rpc/, accessed July 3, 2026.</ref>

Perl has Ethereum-related modules as well. `Blockchain::Ethereum::Keystore` provides Ethereum wallet-management utilities, including keyfile import and export, password changes, transaction signing, private key and seed generation, and BIP44 support.<ref>MetaCPAN, “Blockchain::Ethereum::Keystore,” https://metacpan.org/pod/Blockchain::Ethereum::Keystore, accessed July 3, 2026.</ref>

Other modules in the `Blockchain::Ethereum` family provide utilities for Ethereum denominations, ABI types, transaction formats, RLP encoding, and newer transaction types.<ref>MetaCPAN, “Blockchain::Ethereum::Utils,” https://metacpan.org/pod/Blockchain::Ethereum::Utils, accessed July 3, 2026.</ref><ref>MetaCPAN, “Blockchain::Ethereum::RLP,” https://metacpan.org/pod/Blockchain::Ethereum::RLP, accessed July 3, 2026.</ref>

Ethereum illustrates both Perl’s opportunity and its limitation. Perl can absolutely call Ethereum APIs, decode data, work with keys, and process blockchain records. But most Ethereum dapp tutorials and front-end tooling are centered on JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Rust, and Go. Perl’s best role is therefore often backend automation, data extraction, administrative tools, reporting, and integration rather than browser-wallet front-end development.