$ETH The original Ethereum concept was introduced in 2013 by Vitalik Buterin with the release of the Ethereum whitepaper and in 2015 the Ethereum platform was launched by Buterin and Joseph Lubin along with several other co-founders. Ethereum is described as “the world’s programmable blockchain,” positioning itself as an electronic, programmable network that anyone can build on to launch cryptocurrencies and decentralized applications.