Ethereum News Today: Ethereum Completes Decade of Innovation, Prices Stabilize Near $3,500

Ethereum, the pioneering smart contract blockchain, reached a decade of operation on July 30, 2025, marking a decade of innovation in decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and blockchain development. Launched on the same date in 2015 with the Frontier version, Ethereum’s journey began with a vision proposed by Vitalik Buterin in late 2013. By the end of 2025, the network had evolved from a rudimentary platform into a cornerstone of the decentralized economy, underpinning key developments in blockchain technology [1].

The timeline of Ethereum’s evolution highlights critical milestones. In 2014, the project raised over 31,000 BTC (~$18 million) through an initial coin offering (ICO). The first live trading of ETH occurred in July 2015, with the token trading around $0.75 initially. Significant upgrades followed, including the Homestead release in March 2016 and the controversial hard fork in July 2016 following the DAO exploit, which led to the creation of Ethereum Classic (ETC) [1].

By 2017, Ethereum became the backbone for thousands of tokenized projects, particularly during the ERC-20 token boom. Its price surged to a record $826 in December 2017. In 2018, Ethereum’s price reached a peak of $1,420 before the broader crypto market correction. During this period, foundational DeFi projects such as MakerDAO and Compound emerged on the platform [1].

The Constantinople upgrade in early 2019 marked the beginning of Ethereum 2.0 development. By 2020, the network weathered the market crash of March, where ETH briefly fell below $100. However, the DeFi Summer in the second half of the year saw explosive growth in decentralized applications such as Uniswap, Aave, and Compound. The Beacon Chain, the first phase of Ethereum 2.0, launched in December 2020, laying the groundwork for a Proof-of-Stake transition [1].

The transition to Proof-of-Stake was completed on September 15, 2022, with the successful Merge. This upgrade represented a major environmental and technological milestone, as Ethereum moved away from energy-intensive Proof-of-Work. At the time of the Merge, ETH was trading around $1,600 [1].

In 2023, the Shanghai upgrade enabled staking withdrawals, completing Phase 1 of Ethereum 2.0. The price briefly rose to $2,100 post-upgrade. Layer-2 solutions like Arbitrum and Optimism gained traction, while the broader market saw a resurgence in decentralized innovation. By mid-2024, Ethereum’s ecosystem supported the modular blockchain narrative, with EigenLayer and restaking protocols gaining prominence. ETH prices surged past $3,700 amid broader market optimism [1].

As of May 2025, Ethereum developers solidified plans for Verkle Trees and Proto-Danksharding, key components of future scalability. On its 10th anniversary, Ethereum continues to trade between $3,300 and $3,500, demonstrating resilience ahead of the next bull market cycle. The platform has consistently driven innovation, from introducing smart contracts to enabling NFTs and DeFi, and transitioning to a sustainable consensus mechanism [1].

Over the past decade, Ethereum has not only survived the volatile cycles of the cryptocurrency market but has also led the way in technological advancement. The network’s shift to a scalable and energy-efficient model, combined with the integration of rollups and modular architecture, positions it to support the next wave of blockchain innovation. Looking ahead, scalable zero-knowledge rollups, tokenization, and AI-integrated blockchain solutions could further solidify Ethereum’s role as the backbone of the decentralized future [1].

Source: [1] Ethereum Turns 10: EVERYTHING You Might Have Missed Since 2015 (https://coinmarketcap.com/community/articles/688b1c810eb4160cb4e8d026/)