Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum (ETH) is a decentralized platform that enables the creation and execution of smart contracts, which are self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement directly written into code. Here's a brief history of Ethereum:

1. Inception (2013-2014): Ethereum was proposed by Vitalik Buterin in late 2013, and the development was crowdfunded in 2014. The initial development team included Vitalik Buterin, Gavin Wood, and Joseph Lubin, among others.

2. Ethereum Network Launch (2015): The Ethereum network went live on July 30, 2015, with the release of its first version, called "Frontier." This marked the beginning of the development of decentralized applications (DApps) on the Ethereum blockchain.

3. The DAO Incident (2016): In 2016, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) was created on the Ethereum platform to serve as a venture capital fund. However, it suffered a critical exploit, leading to the theft of a significant amount of Ether. This event resulted in a hard fork, splitting Ethereum into two chains: Ethereum (ETH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC).

4. Metropolis Upgrades (2017-2019): The Ethereum network underwent two major upgrades during the Metropolis phase—Byzantium in 2017 and Constantinople in 2019. These upgrades aimed to enhance the scalability, security, and efficiency of the Ethereum blockchain.

5. Ethereum 2.0 Development (2020 and ongoing): Ethereum 2.0, also known as Eth2 or Serenity, is a major upgrade to the Ethereum network, shifting from a proof-of-work (PoW) to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. This transition aims to improve scalability, security, and sustainability.

6. DeFi and NFT Boom (2020-2021): Ethereum became a central platform for decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, offering services such as lending, borrowing, and decentralized exchanges. Additionally, the rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) gained immense popularity on the Ethereum blockchain, allowing digital assets to be tokenized and traded.