![Crypto Terms Glossary: What is Aeternity Blockchain? Crypto Terms Glossary: What is Aeternity Blockchain?](/img/194/17/what-is-aeternity-blockchain-sm.webp)
The Aeternity blockchain is known for its platform-specific Sofia smart contracts, Fate Virtual Machine (VM) framework, state channel scaling technology, as well as its own decentralized oracle and governance structure. Aeternity is designed for decentralized finance (DeFi), document, contract, invoice, and receipt management, payments, loans, blockchain-based identity, Internet of Things (IoT) blockchain identities and hardware, gaming, fungible and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other uses. Aeternity was conceptualized in 2016, raised funding through a token offering in 2017, and launched its mainnet in 2018.