#EthereumFuture Ethereum is a decentralized open-source blockchain system that has its own cryptocurrency, Ether. It serves as a platform for numerous other cryptocurrencies as well as for executing decentralized smart contracts. Ethereum was first described in 2013 in a white paper by Vitalik Buterin. Buterin, along with other co-founders, secured funding for the project during a public crowdsale in the summer of 2014. The Ethereum Foundation officially launched the blockchain on July 30, 2015, under the codename 'Frontier'. Since then, there have been several network upgrades, including 'Constantinople', 'Istanbul', 'Muir Glacier', 'Berlin', and most recently the 'London' hard fork.

The goal of Ethereum is to become a global platform for decentralized applications, allowing users from all over the world to write and run software that is resistant to censorship, downtime, and fraud.