Ethereum
About Ethereum
Ethereum is a decentralized platform for building smart contracts and decentralized applications. It has its own cryptocurrency, Ether, and enables users to transact and communicate without the need for a central authority. In contrast to Bitcoin, Ethereum is a general purpose blockchain that can be programmed for a wide range of tasks. It can be used for building apps and organizations, holding assets, and facilitating financial transactions while respecting user privacy and avoiding censorship. ETH, the native cryptocurrency of Ethereum, is used to fuel and secure the network, serve as collateral for the creation of other tokens, and support the Ethereum financial system. It has value as a means of paying transaction fees and as a store of value or tool for decentralized finance. ETH has also gained recognition through initial coin offerings.
In August 2014, Ethereum launched its native token, ether, through an initial coin offering (ICO). Some 50 million ETHs were sold at a price of $0.31 per coin, raising over $16 million for the project.
Unlike many other cryptocurrencies, Ethereum’s cryptocurrency has an unbounded supply, meaning there is no limit to how many ether can enter circulation.
According to the project’s official website, the annual inflation rate of ether is about 4.5%. Block rewards have been reduced two times since the first ever Ethereum block was mined. That block is known as the genesis block. The reductions in block rewards aren’t programmed into Ethereum’s code like Bitcoin’s halving events are. Instead, members of the community propose changes, called “Ethereum Improvement Proposals,” or EIPs, and the rest of the community votes on whether to include the proposals in updates to Ethereum’s software code. Here is a breakdown of ether’s issuance schedule to date.
- Block 0 to Block 4,369,999: 5 ether
- Block 4,370,000 to 7,280,000: 3 ether (changed via EIP-649)
- Block 7,280,000 to now: 2 Ether (changed via EIP-1234)
The issuance rate is also affected by a feature known as the “difficulty bomb.” This refers to a mechanism that increases the difficulty of mining on the original Ethereum blockchain (prior to the transition to the proof-of-stake Ethereum 2.0 blockchain. See below).
Increasing mining difficulty lengthens the time it takes for miners to discover new blocks. That means less ether enters circulation in the form of block rewards, which in turn tapers overall issuance. This mechanism was activated, reset and delayed several times between 2017 and 2020, mainly because Ethereum developers needed more time to work on key updates ahead of the 2.0 upgrade.
From ether’s official launch date in 2014 to March 2017, the token’s price remained rangebound between $0.70 and $21. It wasn’t until the 2017 bull crypto market started to pick up in May of that year that ETH price went above $100 for the first time. From there, ether skyrocketed to a peak of $414 in June 2017 before correcting. It took another five months for bullish momentum to regain strength. By that point, the entire crypto market was starting to experience huge buying pressure, which elevated almost every crypto token to new highs. By January 2018, ETH’s price peaked at $1,418 before it fell sharply.
It took about three years for the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap (behind bitcoin) to retest its previous all-time high price. Between February and May 2021, eth’s price more than tripled to set a new all-time high of $4,379.