Ethereum Turns 10: How Its Booms and Busts Shaped Crypto History

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Ethereum celebrated its 10th anniversary on July 30, 2025, marking a decade since its mainnet launch in 2015Cointelegraph+6Cointelegraph+6Bankless+6.

Its journey spans landmark moments: the ICO craze, CryptoKitties congestion, DeFi Summer, the proof-of-stake Merge, and growing institutional adoption through spot ETH ETFs.

Today, Ethereum is the foundation of DeFi, holding nearly $85 billion in TVL and is the second-largest blockchain by market cap (~$460 billion) Cointelegraph+14Cointelegraph+14Cointelegraph+14.

🚀 2015–2016: Birth of Ethereum & The DAO Hack

Vitalik Buterin circulated an early white paper in 2013, followed by an $18.3M ICO in 2014.

Ethereum’s mainnet launched on July 30, 2015 as a smart-contract blockchain.

In June 2016, the infamous DAO hack led to a ~$60M exploit, prompting a controversial hard fork. A majority continued as Ethereum, while a minority remained on the original chain, now known as Ethereum Classic The Defiant+8Cointelegraph+8Bankless+8.

🔥 2017–2018: ICO Boom & CryptoKitties

Ethereum became the hub for ICOs using the ERC-20 token standard.

ETH price surged from under $10 in early 2017 to ~$1,450 by January 2018.

CryptoKitties, launched in late 2017, went viral and clogged the network—highlighting scalability limitations and spiking gas fees Cointelegraph+1Cointelegraph+1.

🌱 2019–2020: DeFi Summer

Ethereum’s total value locked (TVL) surpassed $1 billion during “DeFi Summer.”

Protocols like MakerDAO, Compound, Uniswap, Aave, and SushiSwap drove yield farming and transformed Ethereum into the backbone of decentralized finance.

ETH climbed above $750 by end of 2020 amid booming on-chain activity Cointelegraph+1Cointelegraph+1.

🎨 2021: NFT Mania

CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, and Beeple's $69M sale at Christie’s catapulted NFTs into the mainstream.

Ethereum gas fees soared, pricing out casual users and exposing the need for scaling.

ETH reached an all-time high of $4,891 in November 2021 Cointelegraph.

🔄 2022: Crash & The Merge

Crypto faced major crashes: Terra, FTX, and broader contagion dropped ETH from ~$3,800 in January to ~$1,000 by mid‑2022.

On September 15, 2022, the Merge transition from Proof-of‑Work to Proof-of‑Stake slashed energy consumption by over 99% and marked a pivotal protocol upgrade AInvest+1Cointelegraph+1.

🚀 2023–2024: Rollups, Airdrops & Scaling

Layer‑2 solutions like Optimism, Arbitrum, and zkSync gained traction.

DeFi and NFT activity cooled compared to 2021; ETH rose from ~$1,200 to ~$2,300 over 2023.

The Dencun upgrade (March 2024), including EIP‑4844 ("proto‑danksharding"), reduced L2 costs and accelerated rollup adoption Cointelegraph+15Cointelegraph+15The Defiant+15Bitget+3Bankless+3Cointelegraph+3.

Liquidity fragmentation across rollups grew, even as institutional interest surged around Ethereum-based spot ETFsCointelegraphCointelegraphCointelegraph.

📊 2025: Institutional Momentum & Base Layer Shift

Ethereum Foundation advocated refocusing on Layer‑1, amid renewed institutional confidence.

Public companies started treating ETH as a treasury asset, with spot ETH ETF inflows outpacing Bitcoin ETFs by mid‑2025 CointelegraphCointelegraph.

The ETH price rebounded from below ~$1,500 in April to around $3,800, while corporate treasury firms have acquired over 1% of circulating ETH supply since June Cointelegraph+2Cointelegraph+2Cointelegraph+2.

⚡ Why This Decade Changed Everything

Ethereum weathered censorship debates, critical hacks, scaling crises, and regulatory scrutiny—and emerged as a resilient, programmable platform.

It facilitated finance without banks, a global NFT economy, and a programmable token infrastructure that defines today’s DeFi landscape.

Institutional adoption—including treasury strategies and ETFs—is shifting ETH from a speculative asset to a strategic store of value.

📋 Quick Recap

PeriodKey Highlights
2015–2016Mainnet launch, DAO hack, Ethereum vs Ethereum Classic
2017–2018ICO boom, CryptoKitties network congestion
2019–2020DeFi Summer, protocols like Compound and Uniswap emerge
2021NFT boom, gas fee spike, all-time ETH high (~$4,891)
2022Crypto crash, Ethereum Merge to PoS
2023–2024Rollups, airdrops, Dencun upgrade scaling Ethereum
2025Institutional adoption rises, price recovery to ~$3,800

 

📝 Final Thoughts

Ethereum’s first ten years mirror crypto’s most chaotic and innovative eras—from explosive speculation to resilient infrastructure growth. As it enters its eleventh year, Ethereum stands at the intersection of technology and finance, poised to evolve further.

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