History of Ethereum: From inception to version 2.0

Blockchain technology is used by Ethereum, an open-source public service, to enable safe cryptocurrency trade and smart contracts without the need for a middleman. Ethereum offers two types of accounts: externally owned accounts (governed by private keys that may be modified by real users) and contract accounts. This blockchain technology enables the deployment of a wide range of decentralized applications and several other Ethereum development services. Even though Bitcoin is still the most widely used cryptocurrency, many people speculate that Ethereum may soon replace Bitcoin in terms of use due to its quick expansion.

Origin of Ethereum

At the age of 19, Vitalik Buterin developed the concept for Ethereum in 2013. Later that year, he launched Ethereum's journey with the publication of a white paper describing it as a platform for decentralized applications and the future of smart contracts. The development of Ethereum was influenced by Bitcoin and its decentralized blockchain technology. However, Bitcoin’s capabilities are restricted to peer-to-peer electronic currency transactions only. Because of this restriction, Buterin sought to make blockchains more useful for programmable applications.

He originally intended to do this by layering a more sophisticated programming language on top of Bitcoin to support the processing of smart contracts, but the Bitcoin community rejected this concept. Then, Buterin decided to build a brand-new blockchain to support this global computer. Buterin released his white paper detailing the Ethereum concept before the end of 2013. Ethereum was initially introduced in January 2014. Numerous programmers were drawn to the concept.

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By the year's end of 2014, ether, the native currency of Ethereum, was sold to raise over $18 million in its inaugural crowdfunding. The earliest Ethereum conference, named DEVCON0, was also organized by initial Ethereum founders and developers, and it was there that the developers first came together.

Stages of Ethereum’s development

Four major phases of development were envisioned for Ethereum. Each level signifies a mandatory network-wide update, after which there will be no support for older versions. They go by the name hard forks as well. Planned and unforeseen sub-upgrades have also occurred inside the major phases.

• The Frontier phase - Implementing the fundamental technical framework

Frontier was the name of Ethereum's initial version, launched in 2015 also known as Ethereum 1.0. Its two most fundamental purposes were to make it possible for individuals to mine ether and execute smart contracts. The network up and running so that miners could set up their mining procedures and programmers could test their decentralized apps was the goal of the early stage. To make sure transaction fees weren't excessively expensive and restricting use, a small fork dubbed Frontier Thawing was introduced. During this time, gas was restricted to 5,000 per transaction.

• The Homestead phase - Infrastructure enhancements to address security concerns

Frontier was considered to be the functioning version of Ethereum, however, homestead focused more on safety & security. A contentious decision was made to conduct a hard fork on the Ethereum blockchain to restore the stolen assets as a consequence of this incident. A portion of the community rejected the modification and established the Ethereum Classic branch, which is still active today. Following several DoS (denial-of-service) assaults, the Tangerine Whistle and Spurious Dragon sub-upgrades were issued to address security concerns by modifying gas prices and adding state clearing.

• The Metropolis phase - Solving the problems that arise as a result of development and progress

The scalability, security, and privacy of Ethereum were all significantly enhanced by Metropolis. It provided developers and users with a lighter, more productive experience while resolving many of the issues Ethereum had throughout its scaling phase. The upgrade was issued in two stages, Byzantium and Constantinople, due to its complexity.

• The Serenity phase - Road to Ethereum 2.0, more scalable, safe, and long-lasting

The Serenity phase is currently under development. This version of Ethereum, sometimes referred to as Ethereum 2.0, attempts to enhance Ethereum to a point where it can be widely utilized without running into security or large volume concerns. In particular, it aims to address two problems that Ethereum is now facing: a congested network that can only process a few transactions per second (with higher gas prices for quicker transactions), and the significant energy consumption that comes with the proof-of-work method.