Table of Contents
Toggle
Ethereum’s 10th Anniversary
On Wednesday, Consensys and Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin rang the closing bell at the Nasdaq in New York, celebrating the 10th anniversary of Ethereum and his latest venture, Sharplink Gaming (ticker: SBET).
In the past decade, Ethereum has weathered numerous events, facing skepticism and challenges along the way. Now, a decade after its launch, it has gradually fulfilled its initial promise, becoming the world’s most widely used blockchain, with Ether serving as the foundational currency of the “world computer,” and even being adopted as a corporate reserve asset by many publicly traded companies. Paul Brody, EY’s blockchain leader, remarked: “The achievements of Ethereum today far exceed my initial expectations, and we have only just begun to explore its potential. In the future, it will not only be a financial infrastructure but will also serve as the underlying architecture for all commercial activities.”
The Origins of Ethereum
The concept of the world’s second-largest blockchain originated in 2013, when a 19-year-old Vitalik Buterin pondered whether everything online could be decentralized if Bitcoin could achieve decentralized currency. Andreas, founder of Fileverse, stated: “Ten years ago, Ethereum was a revolutionary idea; today, it has become a common foundation behind many innovations on the internet.” Vitalik Buterin wrote a white paper outlining his vision and initiated a crowdfunding campaign in 2014, which became the second-largest Kickstarter project at the time. On July 30, 2015, the Ethereum mainnet was officially launched. Bill Hughes, Consensys’ legal director, recalled: “Today, it would be nearly impossible to recreate Ethereum. It was born at a unique time, among a group of idealists, and involved a brave exploration of the intersection of unknown technology and economics.”
Standing Firm Through Storms
Ethereum’s journey has been filled with challenges and controversies. From the infamous DAO hack incident, which led to network forks and internal disputes, to difficult upgrade processes and pressure from competitors, there were times when people predicted it was “dead” or “obsolete.” Azeem Khan, founder of Miden, stated: “Despite years of naysayers, what we are seeing now is that Ethereum is gradually becoming the backbone of the next generation of the global financial system.” Zak Cole, co-founder of 0xbow, added: “The most incredible feature of Ethereum is that it ‘cannot die.’ It has survived forks, regulations, failures, and internal wars.” During the 2017 bull market, network congestion and high gas fees became sources of pressure, prompting later developments toward scalability and Layer 2 solutions. Joseph Delong from Kraken pointed out: “For ten years, Ethereum has never gone down, overcoming countless challenges and achieving a series of unimaginable milestones.” Aleph, an advisor to the Ethereum Foundation, emphasized that Ethereum’s value lies in its ability to continuously and securely update and upgrade its technical architecture without compromising its original intent. Although Andrew Thurman from the Jito Foundation often takes a relatively critical perspective on Ethereum, he acknowledges its commitment to decentralization and global accessibility. He stated: “Ethereum’s greatest contribution has been attracting and nurturing a growing community of developers and contributors, which even surpasses Bitcoin.”
Looking Ahead
As the business world begins to embrace Ethereum, both the network and its community will face new challenges in the future. Paul Dylan-Ennis, a lecturer at University College Dublin, remarked: “In the next decade, the most critical question for Ethereum will be: Can it maintain its original crypto-punk values and identity as more participants join?”
