Ethereum turns 10: Here’s how its booms and busts shaped history
Ethereum celebrated its 10-year anniversary with renewed institutional momentum. Launched in 2015 and co-founded by Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum has emerged as the largest decentralized finance blockchain. Its native cryptocurrency, Ether, ranks second in market capitalization after Bitcoin. Key historical events include the 2016 DAO hack, which led to a hard fork and the creation of Ethereum Classic. The ICO boom from 2017 to early 2018 propelled Ether to an all-time high of around $1,450. Following a harsh downturn, the DeFi summer of 2020 revitalized Ethereum, allowing platforms like MakerDAO and Uniswap to flourish. NFTs took center stage in 2021, with Ethereum facilitating significant sales, but high gas fees emerged as a pressing issue. The crypto crash of 2022 did not halt progress; Ethereum successfully transitioned to proof-of-stake. In subsequent years, new scaling solutions emerged, yet fragmentation increased, leading to concerns over liquidity. By mid-2025, Ethereum's resurgence is driven by spot ETH ETF inflows and a strategic refocus on the base layer, propelling Ether's price to approximately $3,800.
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