Coin columns · Ethereum City (Capital)
Ethereum: The Programmable Blockchain at the Heart of the Capital
Launched 2015, proof of stake since 2022: what ETH does
Ethereum is a blockchain that lets anyone run programs, called smart contracts, not just send money. Its own coin, ether (ETH), pays the network’s fees and backs its security.
1. Who built it and why
Vitalik Buterin described Ethereum in a 2013 white paper and built it with co-founders including Gavin Wood and Joseph Lubin. A 2014 public sale funded development, and the network went live on 30 July 2015. The non-profit Ethereum Foundation funds research, while independent operators and client teams run the network.
ETH pays fees (gas), and validators lock it up as collateral to secure the chain. It has no fixed maximum supply; the total rises or falls with new issuance and the ETH burned through fees. On the Crypto Nation map, ETH is the city-hall tower of Ethereum City (the capital), as the chain’s own coin.
2. Smart contracts and proof of stake
Smart contracts are programs that run automatically when set conditions are met, in a shared environment called the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Tokens, decentralised exchanges, lending markets and NFTs are all built this way, and many other chains copy the EVM.
Ethereum started with proof of work, where computers compete to make blocks, but ‘The Merge’ of September 2022 moved it to proof of stake, where validators who lock up coins make blocks. Validators stake at least 32 ETH; in each 12-second slot a random one proposes a block and others attest to it. Rule-breakers lose part of their stake (‘slashing’), and the switch cut energy use dramatically.
3. A history told in upgrades
After the 2016 hack of ‘The DAO’, a hard fork reversed the losses, and those who kept the original record continued as Ethereum Classic. The London upgrade (August 2021) began burning part of every fee, and Shapella (April 2023) let stakers withdraw.
Dencun (March 2024) added ‘blobs’, cheap data space for layer-2 networks (L2s) that record their transactions on Ethereum, and US spot ETH ETFs began trading that July. Pectra (May 2025) and Fusaka (December 2025) improved wallets, validator operations and data capacity. Many stablecoins, DeFi apps and real-world-asset tokens live on Ethereum and its L2s, which is why it is the capital.
4. Things to know
Fees can spike when the network is busy, and as activity moves to L2s people debate how much value flows back to Ethereum itself. Critics also note staking concentrated in a few large services and block building dominated by a handful of firms.
US regulators have broadly treated ETH like a commodity, and in 2025 SEC staff said ordinary protocol staking is not a securities transaction, but rules differ by country and keep changing. Even when the base chain is secure, apps built on it carry their own risks of bugs and hacks.
Written from information public up to October 2026. It does not recommend or rate any coin and is not investment advice. If something is wrong, please tell us through the contact page.