whatiseth

1 - Story
Back when the world only knew $BTC , and blockchain was seen as nothing more than a system for recording transactions, a 19-year-old prodigy began to emerge. His name was Vitalik Buterin, a young programmer from Canada with Russian roots

By 2013, Bitcoin had emerged as a technology of freedom, capturing the attention of developers around the world. Vitalik was no exception. He joined the Bitcoin community early on and quickly realized that Bitcoin’s blockchain had far greater potential than serving as just a digital currency system.
In Vitalik’s view, to truly unlock the power of blockchain technology, the ecosystem needed something more flexible, a platform capable of supporting many different types of applications, not just payments. To address this limitation, he proposed a new kind of platform, one that could execute smart contracts and support decentralized applications.

That idea became $ETH
2 - Idea to Reality
The concept was first introduced in a whitepaper published in late 2013. Soon after, the project began to take shape as the development team expanded, with co-founders joining in, including Gavin Wood, Joseph Lubin, Anthony Di Iorio, and Charles Hoskinson.

Ethereum White Paper

Early ETH Team
Later on, two members of the founding team, Charles Hoskinson and Gavin Wood, were unable to align with Vitalik Buterin on Ethereum’s long-term direction. As a result, they chose to part ways and went on to launch their own blockchain projects, Cardano and Polkadot.
Cardano and Polkadot
In 2014, Ethereum launched a public fundraiser to bring Vitalik’s vision to life, raising around eighteen million dollars by selling sixty million ETH. At the time, it was one of the most successful fundraises in crypto. Early participants bought ETH for about sixty cents, a price that has since grown to well over two thousand dollars.

Ethereum ICO
The funding accelerated Ethereum’s development, leading to the release of its first version, Ethereum Frontier, on July 30, 2015. Initially, Ethereum used a proof-of-work mechanism similar to Bitcoin, where miners solved complex problems to earn ETH. However, the high energy consumption of this model sparked environmental concerns, pushing the community to explore improvements for Ethereum’s long-term future.
3 - How ETH Works
PoW vs PoS
In 2022, Ethereum transitioned to proof of stake. Instead of mining, validators secure the network by locking up ETH. If they act maliciously, they lose money. This change reduced energy usage by over 99 percent and improved long-term scalability.

Initially, Ethereum used proof of work, similar to Bitcoin. Miners competed to solve complex problems and earned ETH as rewards. This system consumed a massive amount of energy, sparking concerns about sustainability.
4 - Supply, Inflation, and ETH Value
Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum does not have a fixed supply cap. Early on, this raised concerns about inflation. To address this, Ethereum introduced a fee-burning mechanism. A portion of transaction fees is permanently destroyed.

When more ETH is burned than issued, Ethereum becomes deflationary. At times, ETH’s total supply has actually decreased, which can support long-term value if demand continues to grow.
5 - Is Ethereum Centralized?
Some people believe Ethereum is controlled by a company or a small group. That’s not true. Ethereum is fully decentralized, secured by tens of thousands of nodes around the world. No single person, company, or government controls the network.

Even if Vitalik disappeared tomorrow, Ethereum would continue to operate.
6 - Real-World Use Cases
Ethereum is often called blockchain 2.0 because it introduced smart contracts, self-executing programs that run automatically on the blockchain. These contracts enable decentralized finance, NFTs, games, and many other applications.

In DeFi, Ethereum powers decentralized exchanges like Uniswap and lending platforms like Aave. These systems reduce reliance on centralized intermediaries and increase transparency.
Ethereum also sparked the NFT movement, from high-profile art sales to major brands launching digital collections.
7 - ETH Price History
ETH Price History
ETH started at around 0.3$ during its early fundraising phase. Over the years, it experienced massive growth, sharp crashes, and multiple market cycles. It reached an all-time high of nearly 4,800 dollars in 2021, driven by DeFi, NFTs, and network upgrades.

Like the rest of the crypto market, ETH remains volatile, influenced by global economics, technology upgrades, and market sentiment.
8 - The Road Ahead
Ethereum continues to dominate the smart contract ecosystem. Many traditional companies now build layer-two blockchains on top of Ethereum to benefit from its security while offering cheaper transactions.
These layer twos still rely on ETH for fees, reinforcing its role at the center of the ecosystem.

From a technology and adoption standpoint, Ethereum remains one of the strongest platforms in crypto today.
Recently, Vitalik Buterin shared a noticeable shift in how he thinks about Ethereum’s future
2026 is framed as a year of self-sovereignty. Vitalik is pushing hard against centralization, emphasizing easier node verification, better privacy, censorship resistance, and wallets users fully control. Ethereum must remain usable even without trusted intermediaries.
He also reaffirmed ETH as a core asset and store of value, and highlighted growing interest in Ethereum as an economic and trust layer for AI, focusing on verifiable and private AI interactions.
#Ethereum #BTC #WhatisETH #Vitalik

1 - Histoire
Lorsque la seule monnaie numérique dont le monde avait entendu parler était le $BTC et que la blockchain était considérée comme un système d'enregistrement des transactions au mieux, un jeune prodige est entré en scène à l'âge de 19 ans. C'était un petit programmeur canadien d'origine russe nommé Vitalik Buterin.

En 2013, le Bitcoin était devenu une technologie de liberté qui intéressait des développeurs du monde entier. Vitalik n'était pas une exception. Il est devenu membre de la communauté Bitcoin à ses débuts et a rapidement compris qu'il y avait beaucoup plus dans la blockchain Bitcoin qu'un simple système de monnaie numérique.

1 - Histoire
À l'époque où le monde ne connaissait que $BTC , et où la blockchain était considérée comme rien de plus qu'un système d'enregistrement des transactions, un prodige de 19 ans a commencé à émerger. Son nom était Vitalik Buterin, un jeune programmeur canadien d'origine russe

Vitalik Butarin
En 2013, Bitcoin avait émergé en tant que technologie de liberté, attirant l'attention des développeurs du monde entier. Vitalik n'était pas une exception. Il a rejoint la communauté Bitcoin dès le début et a rapidement réalisé que la blockchain de Bitcoin avait un potentiel bien plus grand que de servir simplement de système de monnaie numérique.