#DeepSeekImpact 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. Unlike Bitcoin which has a maximum circulation of 21 million coins, the amount of ETH that can be created is unlimited, although the time that it takes to process a block of ETH limits how much ether can be minted each year. Another difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin is how the networks treat transaction processing fees.