**Ethereum has a long history so I recommend you play back this video at 1.25x**

Hello all,
Today we're talking about Ethereum. It's history, founders, what it is and does etc.

Ethereum, a decentralized blockchain platform, has a fascinating history and was founded by several key individuals. Here's a brief overview of Ethereum's origins and what it entails.

The concept of Ethereum was proposed by Vitalik Buterin, a Russian-Canadian programmer, in late 2013 when he published the Ethereum whitepaper. Buterin, who had previously worked on Bitcoin Magazine, envisioned a platform that could go beyond simple digital currency and enable the execution of complex, programmable applications on the blockchain.

In 2014, Buterin co-founded Ethereum alongside several other prominent figures in the blockchain space, including Gavin Wood, Joseph Lubin, Anthony Di Iorio, and Mihai Alisie. They collectively worked on developing the Ethereum platform and launched a crowdfunding campaign in the form of an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) to fund its development.

The Ethereum blockchain officially went live on July 30, 2015, with the release of its first version, known as Frontier. It marked the beginning of a new era in decentralized technology, offering developers a platform to build and deploy decentralized applications using smart contracts.

So, what is Ethereum exactly? At its core, Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that enables the creation and execution of smart contracts. Smart contracts are self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement written directly into code. They automatically execute actions when predefined conditions are met, without the need for intermediaries.

Ethereum introduced a programming language called Solidity, specifically designed for writing smart contracts. Developers can use Solidity to define the logic and conditions of their contracts, enabling a wide range of decentralized applications to be built on the Ethereum platform.

Ethereum has its native cryptocurrency called Ether (ETH). Ether serves multiple purposes within the Ethereum ecosystem. It acts as a digital currency, similar to Bitcoin, allowing users to transfer value. Additionally, Ether is used to pay for transaction fees and computational services on the Ethereum network. It also plays a crucial role in incentivizing and rewarding participants in the network, such as miners and validators.

Over the years, Ethereum has evolved and gained significant traction. Its ecosystem has attracted a vibrant community of developers, entrepreneurs, and enthusiasts who have built and deployed numerous decentralized applications across various industries. These decentralized applications include finance, gaming, decentralized exchanges, supply chain management, and more.

Despite its success, Ethereum has faced scalability challenges due to its original proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism, which limits transaction throughput. In response, Ethereum has been undergoing a significant upgrade called Ethereum 2.0 or Eth2. This upgrade aims to transition the network to a more scalable and energy-efficient proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, known as the Beacon Chain.