10 years of Ethereum - the world’s supercomputer

Ethereum just passed the decade mark. In crypto, that’s rare.

For most of that time, Ether (ETH), the native token of the Ethereum network, has been second only to Bitcoin (BTC) by market cap. Ethereum, however, has always been more than a token. It introduced smart contracts and opened the door to everything we now take for granted on‑chain: DeFi, NFTs, stablecoins, tokenised assets.

A decade later, the scale of what has been built on Ethereum is clear. Ether’s total market cap sits just under US$500B. More than US$130B worth of stablecoins now run on the network, and over US$85B in value is locked across DeFi protocols.

This scale of activity, all running on a decentralised network with no central owner, is why Ethereum is often called the world’s supercomputer.

A quick history of Ethereum

Ten years in crypto is an extremely long time, just ask any of us. A lot can and has happened, especially with Ethereum. Here’s a recap of its history and some of the most critical events.

• 2013 – The Ethereum whitepaper

At just 19 years old, Vitalik Buterin who was working for Bitcoin magazine at the time, publishes the Ethereum whitepaper. It outlines a vision for a decentralised platform for smart contracts and decentralised applications (dApps).

• 2014 – Ethereum raises US$18M

Through a crowdsale (ICO), 31,000 BTC (about US$18M at the time) is raised to fund the network - one of the largest crowdfunded projects ever.

• 2015 – Ethereum mainnet launches

The Ethereum mainnet ("Frontier") officially launches. The first block is mined, ETH starts trading, and developers begin experimenting with what the network can do.

• 2016 – The DAO and hard fork

The Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) launches on Ethereum and raises US$150M in ETH. A hack drains 3.6 million ETH (around 15% of supply at the time). The community votes to fork, creating today’s Ethereum chain and leaving Ethereum Classic behind - a defining moment in decentralised governance.

• 2017 – ERC-20’s and ICO mania

A new token standard (ERC-20) is introduced, allowing new tokens to be created on the Ethereum blockchain. What follows is the ICO mania of 2017, where countless projects launch tokens and the first ‘Altseason’ begins. ETH price skyrockets to over US$1,400.

• 2020 – DeFi summer

Ethereum smart contracts prove their use case in finance. Billions of dollars flow into decentralised protocols as DeFi takes off.

• 2021 – NFT summer

Another new token standard (ERC-721) is introduced to allow for the non-fungibility of on-chain items. NFT art and collectibles go mainstream on Ethereum, from marketplaces to in-game items. ETH hits an all-time high of US$4,878.

• 2022 – The Merge

Ethereum transitions from Proof‑of‑Work to Proof‑of‑Stake, cutting energy use by 99.95%. The move happens without technical issues - a milestone in blockchain history.

• 2023 – Layer 2s & scalability

Rollups and ZK technology accelerate adoption. Layer 2 networks like Arbitrum, Optimism and Base scale Ethereum and make transactions cheaper.

• 2024 – Ethereum ETFs

The first spot Ethereum exchange‑traded funds (ETFs) begin trading on major U.S. exchanges including CBOE, Nasdaq, and NYSE. Issuers such as BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Bitwise, VanEck, ARK/21Shares, and Franklin Templeton quickly follow with their own ETH ETFs - another sign of Ethereum’s place in the market.

2025 and beyond Year 10

Ethereum keeps shipping through every market cycle. Each one brings new use cases, and this cycle is the same.

Institutional interest has stepped up across crypto, and it is no longer limited to Bitcoin. Spot ETH ETFs are now seeing meaningful volume, and companies are beginning to hold ETH on their balance sheets. That shift says a lot about how the market views Ethereum today.

Stablecoins are becoming part of financial infrastructure, with over US$130B running on Ethereum. In the U.S., the GENIUS Act is shaping how stablecoins are issued and used. Meanwhile, tokenisation of real-world assets is also gathering pace. Bonds, equities, and funds are moving on-chain. BlackRock’s BUIDL fund is one example: a tokenised money market fund with close to US$2.9B in assets, 92% of which sits on Ethereum.

Ten years on, Ethereum remains the hub for much of the important work in this space. This cycle has been slower for ETH, but momentum is picking up again. The network that introduced smart contracts is still leading from the front. Alongside this, Ethereum’s developer community continues to deliver on its long-term roadmap – from scaling with rollups and ZK tech to new experiments like account abstraction. Here’s to the next decade of innovation.

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