On January 23, 2014, Vitalik Buterin officially announced Ethereum (ETH) on Bitcointalk. It has been exactly nine years since Buterin’s announcement of what has become the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
Buterin began speaking with the Bitcoin (BTC) community in 2011. He joined BTC founder Satoshi Nakamoto’s BitcoinTalk. Moreover, around the same time, Buterin co-founded Bitcoin Magazine and began putting out articles on the site. In an effort to create a new, better version of Bitcoin, he started traveling to meet with BTC engineers around the world.
The Ethereum co-founder, along with Gavin Wood, Charles Hoskinson, and Jeffrey Wilcke was the main core developers. Additionally, Joseph Lubin, Mihai Alisie, Anthony Di Iorio, and Stephan Tual were mentioned as the group’s major non-development members.
Buterin shared his idea and urged the public to take part in the new network. People joined as contributors, developers, investors, and evangelists. Hence, a new paradigm for the internet and the interactions it affords was the main goal.
Moreover, the Bitcoin Dominance Maximalism school of thinking, which is still highly influential in the cryptocurrency environment, was questioned by Buterin in the same year. His opinions essentially distinguished between individuals who only wish to enhance Bitcoin and others who might be referred to as “Bitcoin dominance maximalists,” often described as angry, aggressive, and toxic.
Will Ethereum flip Bitcoin as the top cryptocurrency?
Bitcoin (BTC) although popular due to its security and anonymity, lacks the ability for projects to build on top of it. Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) has proven to be a popular platform for other decentralized projects to build on. It sets the foundation for many initiatives and offers ideas for a future that is more sustainable and scalable.
Ethereum and Bitcoin both have significant future potential for blockchain technology, but they are headed in different directions. BTC is more akin to gold, while ETH has more utility. ETH’s utility aspect is one of the major reasons why it may one day replace BTC as the top cryptocurrency.
At press time, ETH was trading at $1,624.00, down by 0.7% in the last 24 hours.