Ethereum Explorer
Explore the Ethereum blockchain
About Ethereum
Overview
Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether (ETH) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. It is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, after Bitcoin. Ethereum is the most actively used blockchain.
History
Ethereum was proposed in 2013 by programmer Vitalik Buterin. Development was crowdfunded in 2014, and the network went live on 30 July 2015, with 72 million coins premined. The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) can execute scripts and run decentralized applications. In 2016, a hacker exploited a flaw in a third-party project called "The DAO" and stole $50 million of Ether, which led to a hard fork of the Ethereum blockchain, creating Ethereum Classic (ETC) and Ethereum (ETH).
Technology
Ethereum originally used a Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism, but in September 2022, it transitioned to a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism through an upgrade known as "The Merge." This transition significantly reduced Ethereum's energy consumption by approximately 99.95%. The Ethereum blockchain is constantly evolving, with ongoing upgrades aimed at improving scalability, security, and sustainability. Major upgrades include the Beacon Chain, The Merge, and upcoming improvements like sharding.
Economics
Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum does not have a fixed supply cap. The issuance of new ETH is controlled by the protocol and has changed over time. After The Merge, the issuance rate decreased significantly as mining rewards were eliminated. Ethereum uses a fee market where users bid to have their transactions included in blocks. A portion of transaction fees is burned (removed from circulation), potentially making Ethereum deflationary under high network usage.
Key Contributors
Vitalik Buterin
Co-founder
Russian-Canadian programmer and writer who co-founded Ethereum. He is the primary visionary behind the Ethereum platform.
Gavin Wood
Co-founder & Former CTO
British programmer who co-founded Ethereum and invented Solidity, the programming language for writing smart contracts. Later founded Polkadot and Kusama.
Joseph Lubin
Co-founder
Canadian entrepreneur who co-founded Ethereum and founded ConsenSys, a blockchain software company focused on Ethereum-based tools and infrastructure.
Charles Hoskinson
Co-founder
American entrepreneur who co-founded Ethereum and later founded Cardano, another blockchain platform.
Major Milestones
November 2013
Ethereum Whitepaper
Vitalik Buterin published the Ethereum whitepaper, describing a platform for decentralized applications.
January 2014
Ethereum Announced
Vitalik Buterin announced Ethereum at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami.
July-August 2014
Ethereum Crowdsale
Ethereum raised 31,000 BTC (worth approximately $18 million at the time) through a crowdsale to fund development.
July 30, 2015
Frontier Release
The first public Ethereum network went live with the Frontier release, allowing developers to build on the platform.
March 14, 2016
Homestead Release
The first planned hard fork of Ethereum, considered the first "stable" Ethereum release.
June 17, 2016
The DAO Hack
A hacker exploited a vulnerability in The DAO smart contract and stole approximately $50 million worth of Ether.
July 20, 2016
The DAO Hard Fork
Ethereum implemented a hard fork to recover the stolen funds, leading to the creation of Ethereum Classic (the original chain) and Ethereum (the forked chain).
October 16, 2017
Byzantium Hard Fork
The first part of the Metropolis upgrade, introducing various improvements to the network.
February 28, 2019
Constantinople Hard Fork
The second part of the Metropolis upgrade, further improving the network and reducing block rewards.
December 1, 2020
Beacon Chain Launch
The first step in the transition to Ethereum 2.0, introducing Proof of Stake to Ethereum.
August 5, 2021
London Hard Fork
Introduced EIP-1559, changing the fee market and implementing a burning mechanism for a portion of transaction fees.
September 15, 2022
The Merge
Ethereum transitioned from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake, reducing energy consumption by ~99.95% and decreasing ETH issuance.