Ethereum, represented as ETH, is a blockchain network, first conceptualized in 2013 and officially launched on July 30, 2015. It's renowned for introducing smart contracts, allowing for automated, programmable transactions.
Ethereum is by far the most popular blockchain network after Bitcoin and hosts the majority of apps critical to the cryptocurrency ecosystem today. These include decentralized exchanges (DEXs), decentralized finance protocols (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and a variety of popular tokens, such as UNI, SHIB, ENS, and its own native cryptocurrency, ETH.
Background and Development
Ethereum'sfounding teamis a blend of brilliant minds:
Vitalik Buterin:The face of Ethereum, known for his profound understanding of blockchain technology.
Gavin Wood:Credited with Ethereum's technical foundation, he wrote the Ethereum Yellow Paper and developed the Solidity programming language.
Joseph Lubin:A key financier of Ethereum's early development, later founded ConsenSys, a blockchain software company.
Anthony Di Iorio:Provided significant financial support during Ethereum's early stages.
Charles Hoskinson:Contributed to the early development, later foundedCardano.
Mihai Alisie:Co-founded Bitcoin Magazine with Buterin and played a crucial role in Ethereum's early days.
While the Russian-born Canadian programmer Vitalik Buterin is often cited as the founder of Ethereum and was termed “the prince of crypto” when he made the cover of TIME, he is one of eight co-founders who worked on Ethereum in 2014. The other names include Anthony Di Iorio, Amir Chetrit, Jeffrey Wilcke, Mihai Alisie, Joeseph Lubin, Gavin Wood and Charles Hoskinson.
Vitalik Buterin is, however, the one who conceived the network when he published the Ethereum whitepaper in 2014. The whitepaper described Ethereum as “A Next-Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform” and envisioned a blockchain with a built-in programming language, allowing anyone to code self-executing applications using smart contracts.
Despite its share of controversies, Ether or ETH, the native asset of the Ethereum blockchain, has managed to grow into the second-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization and is effectively the backbone of the infrastructure that powers Web 3.0 experiences.
Historical Price Analysis
Like BTC, the price of ETH has also increased significantly with adoption and popularity. Compared to ETH’s ICO price of around $0.31, the $1,400 high it reached at the start of 2018 marked a gain of over 457,000%.
In March 2016, Ethereum crossed the $10 mark for the first time. By May 2017, it had reached $100, and by the end of 2017, its value escalated to $774.69, crossing $1,000 in early 2018.
Even between 2017 and 2018, Ethereum price in USD rose over 18,000% according to our live ETH price chart, and while the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization dropped into the $80s twice after that, it set a new all-time high of over $4,800 onNovember 9, 2021.
Looking at ETH price in BTC terms, the ETH/BTC pair peaked at over 0.11 in mid-2017 and we are yet to see that all-time high challenged.
Ethereum experienced a dip in value in the first half of 2022. In 2023, with prices oscillating between $1,200 and $2,300, the anticipation of Ethereum ETFs approached, hinting at a potential new era of mainstream financial adoption of Ethereum.
Some of the key drivers for Ethereum price action remain scalability breakthroughs and the upcoming ETH 2.0 upgrade. On the flip side, any regulatory actions against DeFi, NFTs, or other Web 3.0 services/solutions could impact the price of ETH since the majority of recent growth by the network can be attributed to such protocols.
How Ethereum Works
Ethereum, the blockchain, works much like Bitcoin, and miners commit computing power in exchange for potential block rewards. The major difference, however, is that Ethereum acts as a blockchain computer, allowing developers to use the built-in language —Solidity — to write code or sets of instructions that can be executed autonomously if certain conditions are met.
An example of this is a smart contract that is designed to issue randomized non-fungible tokens to any address that sends a request until a limit is reached. This is typically how NFT mints work, where users send mint requests to a smart contract that executes on a first-come, first-served basis.
Similarly, smart contracts can be designed for a variety of different tasks, ranging from holding tokens and distributing them based on certain conditions, or functioning like a singular system serving a complicated solution, such as that of a decentralized exchange like Uniswap.
While its flexibility makes it popular for decentralized applications, its scalability issues mean that transactions become more and more expensive as network usage grows.
Each transaction on the network is fueled by ETH and users have to pay “Gas” based on how computationally intense their transactions are. Gas fees vary between times of the day, and days of the week, and can get prohibitively expensive during periods of high network activity, such as when a popular NFT collection is being minted by tens of thousands of people at a time.
The Ethereum blockchain also supports a variety of token types, for example, ERC-20, ERC-721 and ERC-1155, that can be issued via smart contracts. These tokens utilize the underlying security of the Ethereum blockchain and often serve utility-based functions inside their respective protocols. Examples of such tokens include UNI, ENS, USDT and more.
Key Features and Functionalities
Ethereum's stack includes a variety of components:
Smart Contracts:Eachsmart contracton Ethereum has a unique Ethereum contractaddress, which is used to interact with the contract on the blockchain.
Development Networks and Frameworks:Local blockchain environments for testing decentralized applications (dApps) before deployment, and tools to facilitate Ethereum development.
Data Structures and Encoding:Ethereum uses specific data structures like the Patricia Merkle Trie and encoding schemas such as Recursive-Length Prefix (RLP) to organize and manage data.
Scalability Solutions:Layer 2networks and technologies like Optimistic and Zero-Knowledge Rollups enhance transaction throughput while maintaining security.
ETH News, Ecosystem, and Highlights
Development Milestones and Major Updates
2013: Vitalik Buterin publishes the Ethereum Whitepaper, outlining the concept of smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps).
2014: Ethereum is introduced at the North American Bitcoin Conference. An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) raises about $18 million in Bitcoin.
July 2015: Launch of the Ethereum blockchain ("Frontier") using a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism, commonly referred to as the Ethereum mainnet.
2016: The DAO Hack occurs, leading to a split in the Ethereum community and the creation of Ethereum Classic.
2017: The Byzantium Fork introduces technology for layer-2 blockchains and the rise of Ethereum NFTs, exemplified by CryptoKitties.
2019: Istanbul and Constantinople upgrades focus on optimizing Ethereum's gas fee structure and preparing for the transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.
2020: Introduction of the Beacon Chain, a PoS blockchain, paving the way for "the Merge."
August 2021: Ethereum launches the London Hard Fork, introducing Ethereum Improvement ProposalEIP-1559. The update burns a portion of transaction gas fees, reducing the overall ETH supply and aiming to make Ethereum deflationary. This resulted, theoretically, in a deflationary element being added to ETH’s supply. By the end of Q1 2022, more than 2 million ETH had been burned after this update, valued at over $6 billion.
September 2022: The transition from PoW to PoS, often discussed in the context of Ethereum vs Ethereum 2.0, significantly reduced its carbon footprint and marked a new era for the Ethereum network.
Post-Merge Roadmap: Future stages include the Surge, the Verge, the Purge, and the Splurge, focusing on improving transaction speeds, network efficiency, and fostering innovative applications.
April 2023: Scheduled release of the Shanghai-Capella upgrade (Shapella upgrade), introducing Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 4895, which will enable validator staking withdrawals, a feature left out in the Merge upgrade.
Smart Contracts: These contracts automate the execution of agreements without the need for intermediaries, offering applications in various domains like stablecoins, decentralized gaming, and automatic insurance policies. Zero-Knowledge Proofs: Used for anonymous payments, identity protection, and authentication. They enable privacy in transactions and simplify authentication processes without compromising security. Layer 2 Networks: Solutions like Boba, Starknet, Loopring, and zkSync offer improved transaction throughput and lower gas costs. They cater to specific applications, including payments, exchanges, and NFT minting.Primary Use Cases and Real-World Applications
Frequently Asked Questions about ETH
1. Can you mine or stake ETH?
Yes, you can mine ETH, like BTC, before the ETH 2.0 upgrade goes live. After that, Ethereum will shift to proof-of-stake, where validators stake their assets instead of committing computing power.
2.What are some of the best ETH wallets?
ETH has a wide ecosystem of wallets and services, but the most popular wallet, by far, is MetaMask, developed by ConsenSys, a company founded by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin.
3. What can you do with ETH?
ETH is primarily used to pay for transactions on the Ethereum network. However, you can also trade ETH for several popular cryptocurrencies or stake ETH in various protocols to earn yield. Users can also move ETH across chains using bridges or wrap ETH into WETH for seamless swapping with other ERC-20 tokens.
4. How to buy ETH?
You can buy ETH on nearly any crypto exchange and platform today, using cryptocurrencies or traditional payment methods.
