Under this tree, the first Ethereumtransaction in the world took place.
A milestone in crypto history takes place here in 2014. For the first time, the Ethereum Foundation can pay out salaries, and this transaction takes place underneath this tree right here.
The history of Ethereum begins in 2013. The 20-year-old Russian-Canadian coder Vitalik Buterin devises a new blockchain and cryptocurrency, Ethereum and ether. He lands in Zug with his team. The attorney Luka Müller sets up the Ethereum Foundation to collect start-up capital with a crowdsale in 2014. Surpassing all expectations, they raise about 31,000 bitcoins, $18 million at the time. This war chest helps pay for the development of the technology. Today, Ethereum has a market cap of around $330 billion (as of February 2024), more than all major Swiss banks combined. After Bitcoin, Ethereum is the most important blockchain.
What makes Ethereum special? While Bitcoin is basically a digital ledger, so-called smart contracts can be programmed on Ethereum. These are digital contracts that execute at lightning speed and allow the recreation of entire banks, notaries and complex legal processes. Many smart contracts are still theoretical, but they promise to revolutionize our lives, especially if robots or artificial intelligences enter into contracts one day in the future.
Mihai Alisie, the co-founder of Ethereum, and Herbert Sterchi, the local Swiss director of the foundation, explain more.
