“The Android of Crypto” – It is in these words that the young Vitalik Buterin then describes his future invention in draft form, Ethereum. He presents his project in a message posted on the famous forum BitcoinTalkJanuary 23, 2014. The opportunity for a small leap in time to a time when even Bitcoin is still a rumor of the net.
Vitalik Buterin at the dawn of a great revolution
Vitalik Buterin, then still a teenager, became involved in the Bitcoin (BTC) community at an early age. Originally pushed by his father, he fell in love with this new monetary UFO – as we tell you in his Crypto-Portrait – to the point of traveling the whole world from forum to forum to meet the community of developers and curious people attracted, like him, by this digital gold. Uncovering some limitations of the Bitcoin protocol, he will simply present a new idea via a message with an evocative title posted on the discussion site dedicated to Bitcoin, BitcoinTalk: “Welcome to a New Beginning”.
Warning ! The limits intrinsic to Bitcoin have been carefully chosen and are intentional. They are linked to the function that Bitcoin wishes to embody and to the immutability that it advocates. This does not prevent the blockchain from offering a whole range of other possibilities, in particular via the smart contracts (smart contracts in English) and their programmability. A totally new source of creativity that Vitalik Buterin was eager to explore.
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Ethereum to complete Satoshi’s idea?
According to him, Satoshi Nakamotoin creating Bitcoin, wanted to test two main ideas:
- A decentralized databasesecure, operating without a trusted third party;
- One robust transaction system able to transfer value across the globe without intermediary.
But, for Vitalik, he lack a third feature that Bitcoin unsuccessfully attempted to achieve in its early years: to create a powerful Turing-complete programming language. Clearly, Bitcoin is not, according to Vitalik, an easily programmable blockchain on which it is possible to simply build any type of applications. However, these applications lead to use cases. And, use cases lead to democratization. Domain names, digital identities, specific cryptocurrencies… All these functionalities that Vitalik foresees are very laborious to implement on the Bitcoin network.
Ethereum: dedicated support for blockchain applications
If only there was another blockchain with a simple and adapted programming language to the creation of all these applications and protocols in the making… A platform for decentralized applications. In short, an android from the crypto world: Ethereum.
This android stands before our eyes today thanks to the involvement of countless developers. They were much less numerous at its genesis. Vitalik Buterin, of course. Gavin Wood as a C++ developer. He will later found the blockchain Polkadot before to resign in October 2022 from the role of CEO. Jeffrey Wilcke as a Go developer. No! It is not a game similar to chess, but a programming language developed by Google. In the initial team, we also find:
- Anthony DiIoriofounder of the Bitcoin Alliance in Canada;
- Mihai Alisiefounder of Bitcoin Magazine;
- Joseph LubinQuant developer and analyst;
- Stephan Tualfounder of Ursium.
A great adventure: for sure, Ethereum was and still is. After successfully changing its consensus in September 2022, the blockchain is taking a confident step towards his next transition, Shanghai, which will in all likelihood take place next March. So hang on to your ETH! The creation of Vitalik promises to show us all the colors in the years to come.
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