Here’s a brief history of Ethereum (ETH):

1. Creation and Vision (2013–2015):

Ethereum was proposed in late 2013 by Vitalik Buterin, a programmer who wanted to build a more versatile blockchain than Bitcoin. The goal was to allow developers to create decentralized applications (dApps) using smart contracts.

2. Launch (2015):

Ethereum officially launched on July 30, 2015, with the Frontier release. It introduced the concept of smart contracts—self-executing contracts with code that runs on the blockchain.

3. The DAO Hack and Hard Fork (2016):

In 2016, a major decentralized autonomous organization called The DAO was hacked, resulting in the loss of over $50 million in ETH. The community decided to hard fork the blockchain to restore the stolen funds. This led to two separate chains:

Ethereum (ETH) – the forked chain.

Ethereum Classic (ETC) – the original chain.

4. Upgrades and Growth (2017–2021):

Ethereum underwent multiple upgrades (Homestead, Metropolis, etc.) and gained popularity due to Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and DeFi (Decentralized Finance) projects. This also led to congestion and high gas fees.

5. Ethereum 2.0 and Proof-of-Stake (2022):

On September 15, 2022, Ethereum transitioned from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) in a major upgrade called The Merge, making the network more energy efficient.

6. Continued Development (2023–2025):

Ethereum is evolving with new upgrades like Danksharding and Proto-Danksharding to improve scalability and reduce fees. Layer 2 solutions like Arbitrum, Optimism, and zk-rollups are also being widely adopted.