The history of Ethereum: from the idea in Vitalik's mind to the Web3 revolution
đ â Origin
In 2013, the programmer Vitalik Buterin proposed in the White Paper the creation of a platform to execute smart contracts â self-executing code blocks â going beyond being just a digital currency.
đ§ â Crowdsale
In 2014, the team â including Gavin Wood, Charles Hoskinson, Joseph Lubin, and others â conducted an ICO that raised over $18 million in ETH, selling around 60 million coins.
đ â Launch
On July 30, 2015, Ethereum was launched in its âFrontierâ phase, creating the genesis block. Miners used GPUs and received 5 ETH per block.
đ ïž â DAO Hack & Fork
In 2016, the DAO hack diverted around $50 million in ETH. The community decided to do a hard fork, reversing the theft. Two networks emerged: Ethereum (ETH) and **Ethereum Classic (ETC)**.
đ â Evolution and upgrades
From 2017 to 2019, improvements such as Byzantium, Constantinople, and the boom of dApps and NFTs (e.g., CryptoKitties) emerged, paving the way for the transition to PoS.
đ â The Merge
On September 15, 2022, the epic Merge happened: Ethereum swapped Proof-of-Work for Proof-of-Stake, reducing its energy consumption by 99%.
đ â Why does it matter?
Today Ethereum is the second largest cryptocurrency, the foundation of DeFi, NFTs, DAOs, and the building of Web3 â an open and decentralized platform for the entire internet.
đ â Final CTA
đź âFrom Vitalik's White Paper to a global digital revolution: and you, are you ready to ride the next Web3 wave?â