Ethereum is a legend. Although it does not have the same Japanese spirit as Bitcoin, it still forms the basis of modern blockchain history. Firstly, because behind it all was a determined teenager who simply followed his dream. And secondly, because an event took place in the history of Ethereum that would have an impact on the entire cryptocurrency community. The dogma of whether code is Law or not. If this interests you, read on.
Article content:
- It all started with an idea – When a teenager changes the world
- Together we are stronger—Ethereum emerges
- The Titanic of the cryptocurrency world – Hacker causes a rift in Ethereum
- When the stars shine bright – Ethereum reaches new heights
- The fall of Ethereum and a new beginning
- Staking – Ethereum and its development
- Back to the present – How is Ethereum doing in 2025?
It all started with an idea – When a teenager changes the world
It all started with a boy named Vitalik Buterin. In 2013, he was only nineteen and wrote articles for Bitcoin Magazine. He enjoyed Bitcoin, but at the same time, he realized that it was very limited. It functioned as money, but it couldn’t handle more complex things. Vitalik therefore came up with a vision of a blockchain that would not just be “digital gold.” It was a computer for the whole world. Anyone could run an application on it that would run without intermediaries and without censorship. He then described this vision in a document—a white paper—similar to what Satoshi Nakamoto had done five years earlier. He then began looking for people who could help him realize his vision.
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Together we are stronger—Ethereum emerges
He found them. Gavin Wood was one of the first to join. He later published a so-called yellow paper, which was supposed to be a technical description of the new network. In 2014, they jointly founded Ethereum in Switzerland. From there, the path was easy. They did their first crowdsale and made a fortune. Bitcoin users bought new coins worth $18 million. And that was just the beginning.
Two years later, Ethereum took off. Applications were added and a project called The DAO was created. It was supposed to be a kind of “decentralized investment fund” to which people from all over the world contributed. They were then supposed to decide together where the money would go. The enthusiasm was enormous—tens of millions of dollars in ETH flowed into The DAO.
The Titanic of the cryptocurrency world – Hacker causes a rift in Ethereum
But in June 2016, disaster struck: a hacker exploited a bug in the code and drained about a third of all funds. The community was thrown into a huge dispute. Some people wanted to perform a so-called rollback – that is, return the blockchain to before the attack and save the stolen money. However, the other part of the users disagreed. They represented a devoted and dogmatic core that claimed that “code is law.” According to them, what happened happened, and the blockchain must not be changed. They feared that this would open the door to further interference with the blockchain.
The result of this dispute was ultimately a split in the community. On one side remained Ethereum (ETH), led by Vitalik Buterin, who actually made the code change and returned the blockchain to its state before the hacker attack. This earned them great popularity, as people got their stolen money back. The second (splinter) group became Ethereum Classic (ETC), which only a minority of users joined. Today, we can see the result in the value of both currencies. Ethereum is currently trading at $4,270 per 1 ETH. Ethereum Classic, on the other hand, is trading at $20 per 1 ETC. Loyalty to users and non-dogmatism simply pay off.
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When the stars shine bright – Ethereum reaches new heights
The schism surrounding Ethereum and the code changes were not the last shock that this new, young cryptocurrency would experience. A huge wave of interest came in 2017. Ethereum made it possible to create tokens, so hundreds of companies began issuing their own coins in so-called ICOs (Initial Coin Offering).
It was like a gold rush! People sent billions of dollars to projects, often based only on promises. As a result, Ethereum skyrocketed to more than $1,400 per 1 ETH.
The fall of Ethereum and a new beginning
However, after the bubble burst, reality set in. The price of Ethereum fell and many projects went bankrupt. It was clear that intervention from above was needed. Directly from the Ethereum developers. They began working on an upgrade that would take Ethereum further. It wasn’t just about blockchain security. It was a change from mining to a new type of validation. And they started calling it proof-of-stake.
Staking – Ethereum and its development
September 15, 2022 was a historic moment. Ethereum switched to a new system. No more miners, no more huge electricity consumption, but validators who secure the network by locking their ETH. Energy consumption fell by 99.95%, and Ethereum entered a whole new era.
Back to the present – How is Ethereum doing in 2025?
Ethereum (ETH) is now trading at around $4,276, and it looks like BlackRock, for example, is interested in it. On the other hand, Ethereum is still risky because the price jumps up and down, regulation is unclear, and the competition is faster and cheaper. With Ethereum, you should only invest what you can afford to lose.
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