Ten years ago, when Vitalik started writing the first line of code for Ethereum, few could foresee that this project, initially seen as a toy for niche technology enthusiasts, would become the core infrastructure of the Web3 ecosystem.

Time flies, today we see global developers celebrating the birthday of Ethereum, while investment giants on Wall Street quietly include it in their asset portfolios. The latest data shows that the amount of Ethereum held by institutions is enough to fill three complete ETH 2.0 staking pools. Even some traditionally more conservative asset management companies have begun to describe Ethereum in their financial reports as the "operating system of the digital economy."

In the past decade, Ethereum has achieved three disruptive milestones:

First of all, during the ICO boom in 2017, despite facing skepticism, Ethereum successfully incubated the first decentralized exchange. Today, these platforms have a daily trading volume of up to $20 billion.

Secondly, during the "Merge" upgrade in 2022, although the network's computing power plummeted by 99%, raising concerns, Ethereum successfully reduced its energy consumption to one-thousandth of the original, gaining recognition from environmental organizations and becoming a true "green blockchain."

Finally, the upcoming shard technology is expected to boost Ethereum's transaction speed to nearly instant messaging levels, while reducing transaction fees to a few cents.

Some analyses compare Ethereum to the "Android system" of the cryptocurrency world. In contrast, Bitcoin is more like digital gold, while other tokens like BNB are similar to points within a closed ecosystem. Ethereum, on the other hand, provides an open platform that supports the operation of various applications. Whether it is NFT trading or DeFi finance, they rely on the underlying infrastructure provided by Ethereum.

Looking back at the development of Ethereum, we must mention some poignant early stories. For example, in 2017, someone bought a pizza for 10,000 ETH, and today, this ETH is worth enough to purchase multiple traditional courtyard houses within the Fourth Ring Road of Beijing. This not only reflects the tremendous growth in the value of Ethereum but also highlights the high volatility of the cryptocurrency market.

The success of Ethereum lies not only in its technological innovation but also in the powerful and flexible platform it provides for decentralized applications. With continuous technological advancements and the expansion of its ecosystem, Ethereum is likely to play an increasingly important role in the future digital economy. However, it still faces challenges such as scalability, security, and regulation, which will be key issues for Ethereum to address in the next decade.