When was Ethereum invented?

Ethereum was invented by Vitalik Buterin, a programmer and co-founder of Bitcoin Magazine. Ethereum was first described in a white paper published by Buterin in 2013, and the Ethereum network was launched on July 30, 2015.

Buterin had previously been involved in the development of Bitcoin, but he saw the potential for a more general-purpose blockchain platform that could support a wider range of applications beyond just a digital currency. Ethereum was designed to be a decentralized platform that allows developers to build and deploy decentralized applications (DApps) on top of it.

Ethereum has since become one of the most widely used blockchain platforms in the world, with a large and active developer community and a wide range of applications being built on top of it. These applications range from decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms and prediction markets to gaming and social networking.

Vitalik Buterin is a well-known figure in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency. As the co-founder of Ethereum and the inventor of smart contracts, Buterin has played a significant role in the development and evolution of decentralized applications (DApps).

Buterin first gained recognition in the cryptocurrency community as a co-founder of Bitcoin Magazine, where he wrote about Bitcoin and other digital currencies. In 2013, he published a white paper outlining the concept of Ethereum, which he described as a decentralized platform that would allow developers to build and deploy DApps on top of it.

Ethereum's key innovation was the introduction of smart contracts, which are self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code. Smart contracts allow for the automation of complex processes and the creation of transparent, verifiable transactions without the need for intermediaries.

Since its launch in 2015, Ethereum has become one of the most widely used blockchain platforms in the world, with a large and active developer community building a wide range of applications on top of it. These applications include decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, prediction markets, gaming, and social networking.

Buterin has continued to be actively involved in the Ethereum project, leading the development of Ethereum 2.0, a major upgrade to the network that aims to improve scalability, security, and decentralization. He has also been involved in other blockchain-related projects and is known for his thought leadership and contributions to the broader cryptocurrency and blockchain community.

Ethereum and decentralized applications (DApps) built on top of it have a wide range of potential uses in the real world. Some examples include:

1. Decentralized finance (DeFi): DeFi platforms built on Ethereum allow users to access financial services like borrowing, lending, and trading without the need for traditional financial intermediaries. This can make financial services more accessible and transparent, and can potentially reduce costs for users.

2. Supply chain management: DApps can be used to track and verify the origin, movement, and quality of goods as they move through the supply chain. This can improve supply chain efficiency and transparency, and can help to reduce the risk of counterfeiting and fraud.

3. Identity verification: DApps can be used to create decentralized systems for identity verification that are more secure and privacy-preserving than traditional systems. This can have applications in areas like voting, banking, and healthcare.

4. Gaming: DApps can be used to build decentralized gaming platforms that operate on a blockchain, which can enable new business models and create new opportunities for developers and players.

5. Social networking: DApps can be used to build decentralized social networking platforms that give users more control over their data and privacy.

These are just a few examples, and the potential uses for Ethereum and DApps are constantly evolving as new applications are developed. It is likely that Ethereum and DApps will continue to play an important role in a wide range of industries and sectors in the coming years.

The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is a runtime environment that executes smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. The EVM is designed to be a simple, stack-based virtual machine that is easy to implement and can be used to execute smart contracts in a variety of programming languages.

Several other blockchain platforms use the EVM or a variant of it as their runtime environment for smart contracts. Some examples include:

1. Quorum: Quorum is an open-source, enterprise-focused version of Ethereum that was developed by JP Morgan. It uses the EVM as its runtime environment for smart contracts.

2. Pantheon: Pantheon is an open-source Ethereum client developed by PegaSys, a ConsenSys company. It uses the EVM as its runtime environment for smart contracts.

3. Hyperledger Burrow: Hyperledger Burrow is a permissioned Ethereum-compatible blockchain platform that was developed by the Linux Foundation. It uses a variant of the EVM called the Hyperledger Burrow Virtual Machine (BVM) as its runtime environment for smart contracts.

4. Corda: Corda is a distributed ledger platform developed by the R3 consortium that is focused on financial applications. It uses a variant of the EVM called the Corda Virtual Machine (CVM) as its runtime environment for smart contracts.

Using the EVM or a variant of it as the runtime environment for smart contracts allows these blockchain platforms to leverage the large and active developer community that has built up around Ethereum and to take advantage of the tools and libraries that have been developed for the EVM.