Blockchain pioneers Scott Stornetta and Stuart Haber worked on the first Blockchain and it is described for the first time as a cryptographically secured chain of blocks.
Computer scientist Nick Szabo worked on ‘BitGold’, a decentralised digital currency. BitGold was never implemented, but has been called "a direct precursor to the Bitcoin architecture."
SHA-2 (Secure Hash Algorithm 2) is a set of cryptographic hash functions designed by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and first published in 2001. SHA2 becomes the key component to the Proof-of-Work (PoW) that is the form of adding new blocks of transactions to a cryptocurrency's blockchain.
On 31 October 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto released his bitcoin white paper with the title "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, that establishes the model for a blockchain".
Nakamoto uploaded blockchain source code to SourceForge on 09 January 2009, so software developers around the world could contribute to this project. Nakamoto released version 0.1 of the Bitcoin Software, that is the first blockchain as the public ledger for transactions made using bitcoin.
On 22.05.2010, Laszlo Hanyecz negotiated to pay 10,000 BTC for two Papa John's pizzas priced at about $25. It was the first bitcoin purchase in real world. The date is now celebrated in the crypto calendar as "Bitcoin Pizza Day."
Vitalik Buterin released Ethereum white paper with the title "A NEXT GENERATION SMART CONTRACT & DECENTRALIZED APPLICATION PLATFORM".
Ethereum introduced blockchain in the form of “a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts.” It explained that blockchain “enables developers to create markets, store registries of debts or promises, move funds in accordance with instructions given long in the past (like a will or a futures contract) and many other things that have not been invented yet, all without a middleman or counterparty risk.”
Blockchain technology is separated from the currency and its potential for other financial, inter-organisational transactions is explored. Blockchain 2.0 is born, referring to applications beyond currency. Ethereum Blockchain is founded by Crowdsale and it introduces computer programs into the blocks, representing financial instruments such as bonds. These become known as smart contracts.
Neo Project is launched as antshares by Da Hongfei and Erik Zhang
Ethereum was different with other blockchains that existed only to support specific cryptocurrencies(e.g. Bitcoin). Ethereum was introduced as a platform for running decentralized applications. The Ethereum blockchain holds executable source code in addition to data, so it serves as the foundation for thousands of blockchain-based applications. The Ethereum blockchain’s flexibility makes it ideal for hosting both NFTs and dApps.
Linux fundation unveils Hyperledger to enhance blockchain development
EOS.io unveiled by block.one as a new blockchain protocol for the deployment of decentralized applications
Bitcoin turned 10 in the year 2018. The bitcoin value continued to drop, reaching the value of $3,800 at the end of the year. Online platforms like Google, Twitter, and Facebook banned the advertising of cryptocurrencies.
Ethereum network transactions exceeded 1 million per day. Amazon announced the general availability of the Amazon Managed Blockchain service on AWS.
In December 2020, Ethereum began running on two parallel blockchains, a legacy one that operates using proof of work (Ethereum Mainnet) and a new chain for proof of stake (Beacon Chain). The merge combined Ethereum’s Mainnet and Beacon Chain into one unified blockchain operating on a proof of stake protocol. Their eventual merge was expected to be called Ethereum 2.0.