Ethereum: The History of the 'World Computer'
Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency, is much more than digital money. It is a decentralized platform for applications (DApps), conceived by Vitalik Buterin.
The Origin: In early 2010, Vitalik saw that Bitcoin, while revolutionary, was limited. He envisioned a more versatile blockchain, and in 2013 published the Ethereum white paper, proposing a programmable blockchain capable of executing smart contracts. The goal was to create a decentralized "world computer" to build any application without intermediaries.
Thus, its Creation and Launch in 2014-2015 With a team of co-founders, Ethereum was funded through a successful presale (ICO) in 2014, using Bitcoin. The network was officially launched in July 2015.
Impact and Evolution:
- Smart contracts enabled the creation of tokens (ERC-20), driving ICOs.
- Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) emerged.
- It became the foundation for Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and NFTs.
- It overcame challenges such as the hacking of The DAO (2016), which led to the fork between Ethereum (ETH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC).
The Future (The Merge): In 2022, Ethereum completed "The Merge," transitioning from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS). This drastically reduced its energy consumption and paved the way for greater scalability.
Basically, Ethereum was born from the vision of going beyond the limitations of Bitcoin, creating a programmable platform for a decentralized internet.
Today, it is fundamental for Web3, DeFi, and NFTs, and continues to evolve. $ETH
