The year 2020 marked the celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Ethereum blockchain. Past this milestone, an opportunity to trace the history of this cryptocurrency platform is up for grabs. Discover the full story of Ethereum, from its inception.
The creation of the Ethereum blockchain.
After Bitcoin was born in 2008, a young Canadian programmer named Vitalik Buterin discovered a way to improve its functioning. His goal is to apply the Bitcoin system to the creation of a programmable blockchain platform that will not only host a cryptocurrency, but also allow for the creation of more powerful decentralised applications.
This new system he is setting up will be called “Ethereum”. However, before the actual birth of Ethereum, its founder published a description of his project in December 2013 in the form of a white paper. In 2014, he acquired around 31,591 bitcoins worth over $18 million after offering the first ethers for sale. This sum will be used to finance his project. The Ethereum blockchain was actually launched on 30 July 2015 with 73 million ethers.
The evolution of Ethereum
During its first 5 years of existence, the Ethereum blockchain has had good and bad days. It is one of the cryptocurrencies used on nft profit. Let’s look at some of the key dates in the history of Ethereum over the years:
- 2016 : the first disillusionment for Ethereum users occurred some time after its creation, on 17 June 2016, when a hacker hacked the blockchain and appropriated 3 million ethers. Following this difficult ordeal for the new cryptocurrency, the Ethereum community will seek solutions to improve the security of the blockchain and ensure its survival. For this, a hard fork (Ethereum classic) is launched on 20 July 2016. Some users opt for this new version (Ethereum classic) while others prefer to modify the blockchain and keep Ethereum as we know it today.
- 2017 : this year marks the boom of cryptocurrencies in general and Ethereum is no exception. For the Ethereum blockchain, 2017 is the year in which crypto kitties, a new feature of the blockchain is born. It allows for the creation and maintenance of collectibles through ERCs (Ethereum Request for Comments).
- 2018 and 2019 : Ethereum sees its value reach the peak in its history. 13 January 2018. This value is $1,432.88. Unfortunately, the cryptocurrency will not maintain this value for long. It will even fall to less than $100 on several occasions.
- 2020 : That’s it, Ethereum is 5 years old. To mark the occasion, the Ethereum community is introducing a major innovation. This is decentralised finance (DeFi). The concept has a range of applications while offering users a range of financial services accessible to all. Decentralised finance is the main use of Ethereum to date. 2020 also marks the introduction of Ethereum 2.0 and its move from Proof of Worck to Proof of Stake technology as a method of block validation on the blockchain.
- From 2021 to date, although there have been many platforms in the digital currency market, the Ethereum blockchain has been able to win its place and keep it. It is now the most widely used platform after Bitcoin.
As we have seen, the creation of the Ethereum blockchain by Vitalik Buterin to improve on Bitcoin was a landmark innovation in the history of cryptocurrencies. Although it has experienced many difficulties along the way, it is now the second largest platform of its kind. It is still evolving.
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