Ethereum's Tenth Anniversary: A Look Back at Key Milestones in the World Computer Experiment

On July 30, 2015, as the block height reached 1028201, a decentralized world computer quietly launched in Berlin, Germany. Today, ten years later, Ethereum has evolved from an experimental project into a crucial infrastructure that supports thousands of applications, connects tens of thousands of developers, and leads innovation in cryptocurrency.

At this historic moment, let us review the ten key moments in the development of Ethereum, covering technological breakthroughs, policy games, ecological development, and market turning points.

1. 2013-2014: White Paper Release and Crowdfunding Launch

In November 2013, 19-year-old Vitalik Buterin released the first draft of the Ethereum white paper, proposing the concept of "Cryptocurrency 2.0." In the following months, Vitalik quickly assembled a founding team of eight members, including Anthony Di Iorio, Charles Hoskinson, Mihai Alisie, Amir Chetrit, Gavin Wood, Joseph Lubin, and Jeffrey Wilcke.

In January 2014, Vitalik publicly introduced Ethereum at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami, USA, causing a huge response. Soon after, Gavin Wood released the yellow paper known as the "Ethereum Technical Bible."

On July 22, 2014, Ethereum launched its crowdfunding campaign, raising over 30,000 bitcoins in 42 days, approximately 18 million USD, and issuing 72 million ETH at an average price of 0.3 USD.

2. 2015: Mainnet Launch, Genesis Block Created

In March 2015, the official Ethereum blog announced a plan for four development stages: Frontier, Homestead, Metropolis, and Serenity.

On July 30, 2015, the Frontier phase officially started, the Ethereum mainnet went live and produced the genesis block, with an initial block reward of 5 ETH.

3. 2016: The DAO Incident and Hard Fork

In June 2016, The DAO project was hacked, resulting in the theft of approximately 3.64 million Ether. This incident sparked intense controversy, and ultimately the Ethereum community rolled back the transaction through a hard fork to recover the stolen funds.

On July 20, 2016, Ethereum implemented a hard fork at block height 1920000, splitting into two chains: Ethereum and Ethereum Classic.

4. 2017: The Crowdfunding Craze and Regulatory Storm

In 2017, crowdfunding projects on the Ethereum platform emerged like mushrooms after rain, with total financing amounting to several billion dollars throughout the year. The price of ETH skyrocketed from around $8 at the beginning of the year to over $700 by the end.

However, with the frequent chaos, global regulatory agencies have begun to take rectification measures. In September 2017, seven ministries in China jointly issued an announcement to halt all crowdfunding projects. The U.S. SEC also classified some tokens as securities, requiring compliance with relevant regulations.

Under global policy pressure, many projects and platforms are forced to shut down, funds are rapidly withdrawn, and the market enters a cooling period.

5. 2020-2021: The Explosion of DeFi and NFTs

From 2020 to 2021, the Ethereum ecosystem experienced explosive growth. DeFi (Decentralized Finance) and NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) rapidly emerged, pushing blockchain technology into the mainstream.

The rise of DeFi began in the first half of 2020, when the liquidity mining mechanism launched by Compound triggered a yield farming craze. The total value locked in DeFi skyrocketed from less than $1 billion at the beginning of 2020 to over $200 billion by the end of 2021.

NFTs experienced a surge in 2021, evolving from a niche art form into a global cultural phenomenon. Fields such as digital art, gaming, and brand marketing have all rushed in, leading to a dramatic increase in trading volume.

6. 2020: Ethereum 2.0 Beacon Chain Launch

On December 1, 2020, the Ethereum 2.0 beacon chain was officially launched, marking the beginning of the transition to the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. The beacon chain is responsible for managing validators, coordinating consensus, and laying the groundwork for future sharding mechanisms.

As of July 2025, over 35.3 million Ether are staked, accounting for 29.17% of the circulating supply, with more than 1.09 million active validators.

7. 2022: Full Transition to PoS

On September 15, 2022, Ethereum completed the merger of the mainnet and the beacon chain, fully transitioning from PoW to PoS. This shift significantly reduced the issuance of new ETH while lowering the network's energy consumption by over 99%.

However, this transformation has also impacted the original group of miners, with some miners turning to other PoW projects or leaving the industry.

8. 2024: Spot ETF Approved

On July 23, 2024, the U.S. SEC approved the Ethereum spot ETF applications of several institutions, including Grayscale, Bitwise, iShares, VanEck, and Ark Invest.

This approval greatly enhances the market legitimacy and liquidity of Ethereum, becoming an important milestone towards mainstream finance.

As of now, the total net asset value of Ethereum spot ETFs has exceeded 20.66 billion USD, accounting for 4.64% of Ethereum's total market capitalization, achieving net inflows for four consecutive months.

9. 2024: Cancun Upgrade

On March 13, 2024, Ethereum completed the Cancun (Dencun) upgrade, introducing EIP-4844 (Proto-Danksharding). This upgrade significantly reduced the data storage costs of L2 scaling solutions and improved network scalability by introducing the concept of blobs (data chunks).

10. 2025: The Rise of Treasury Reserves

Since 2025, more and more institutions have begun to treat ETH as a strategic asset reserve. As of July 28, the total amount of strategic ETH reserves has reached 2.32 million coins, worth approximately $8.98 billion, accounting for 1.92% of the circulating supply.

Among them, BitMine and SharpLink Gaming are the two publicly listed companies in the U.S. with the largest holdings of Ether, holding 566,800 and 360,000 Ether respectively.

Over the past decade, Ethereum has evolved from an experimental project into a leading global blockchain platform, driving innovation in cryptographic technology and decentralized applications. In the future, it will continue to explore new frontiers of scalability, security, and sustainability, contributing to the construction of an open and transparent digital economy.