Ethereum: From White Paper to Wall Street Blockchain

Eleven years ago, Ethereum was just a 36-page white paper written by a 21-year-old programmer. Today, it's the foundation for an entirely new financial ecosystem, with Wall Street's biggest names like BlackRock, Visa, and PayPal building products on its technology.

Ethereum didn't just create another cryptocurrency; it laid the groundwork for thousands of applications, from lending platforms to digital exchanges, games, collectibles, and payment systems.

Unlike Bitcoin, which aimed to solve the problem of sending money over the internet without banks, Ethereum's bigger ambition was to create a blockchain where developers could build applications, much like software developers build apps for Apple's App Store or Google's Play Store.

The upgrade in 2022, known as The Merge, replaced its energy-intensive system with one that cut electricity consumption by about 99.95% - a bold move for a network securing hundreds of billions of dollars in assets.