History of Ethereum
Ethereum was proposed by Vitalik Buterin in late 2013 as a decentralized platform to enable smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). The project gained momentum through a crowdsale in mid-2014, which raised over $18 million, making it one of the largest crowdfunding events at that time.
The Ethereum blockchain went live on July 30, 2015, with the release of its first version called "Frontier." This marked the inception of a new era for blockchain technology, allowing developers to build a variety of applications.
In 2016, Ethereum faced a significant challenge when a vulnerability in a third-party application called "The DAO" was exploited, leading to the loss of approximately $60 million in Ether. In response, the Ethereum community decided to implement a hard fork to reverse the effects of the hack, resulting in the creation of Ethereum (ETH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC).
Over the years, Ethereum has undergone several upgrades, including the introduction of Ethereum 2.0, which aims to transition the network from a Proof-of-Work (PoW) to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. This upgrade intends to enhance scalability, security, and sustainability.
Today, Ethereum is one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization and serves as a foundational platform for numerous projects, including decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), showcasing its versatility and impact on the blockchain landscape.