Into the ether
Greetings, fellow Ethereans. I am Mihai Alisie, one of the founders of Ethereum, and for the past year, I have been serving as the Vice President of the Ethereum Foundation and Director of Ethereum Switzerland.
During the initial phases of the project, I directed my focus towards the community aspect and developed the holons concept for a decentralized physical infrastructure; however, the project required someone in Switzerland, and I became more beneficial here by concentrating on different matters.
In the past few weeks, I began reflecting on how much progress we’ve made and the various achievements we’ve realized since this undertaking commenced. From conceptualization to execution and all that lies between, it has been (and remains) the most exhilarating journey of my life.
As I pondered the events of the last year, inspiration struck to compose this post. Upon reviewing the articles, tweets, and messages shared over the previous months, the piece began to take form as a timeline that reveals the essence of this endeavor.
I trust you will find it enjoyable.
Reflecting back. What began as an aspiration.
Logic will guide you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
Albert Einstein
I distinctly remember the autumn of 2013 when I was introduced to Vitalik’s ethereum concept encapsulated in the opening lines of what would become the Ethereum Whitepaper. He shared it with me via email, indicating that the communication was directed to only a select few.
Ethereum seemed unique compared to anything he had previously sent my way. The exhilaration I experienced upon first grasping the ramifications of Bitcoin resurfaced, this time with countless new multidimensional pathways to investigate.
Vitalik and I have a history dating back to 2011 when we initially connected and collaborated on Bitcoin Magazine. A few months after our first exchanges over the internet, we released our inaugural issue with a team of dedicated individuals making it happen using nothing more than Skype, Google Docs, and minimal funds. It was definitely challenging, but also enjoyable.
The magazine propelled us into rapid growth, each evolving in his own right, thus opening numerous opportunities for both of us. Throughout this journey, I developed a profound respect for Vitalik as I observed his evolution as a colleague, thinker, and individual. This admiration is why I felt both privileged and extraordinarily thrilled when he invited me to be one of the founders of this initiative in late 2013.
And then the rollercoaster departed the station.
Between December 2013 and January 2014, the emphasis was primarily on how to bring to life the vision articulated by Vitalik in the Ethereum Whitepaper. We all reached a consensus that conducting a Genesis Sale was an exhilarating notion; however, it was also one of the most demanding at a strategic level.
After extensive discussions on several fronts, we agreed to delay the Genesis Sale initially slated for February to devise a robust infrastructure and legal framework as we were navigating through deep, uncharted waters.
With this perspective, we explored various jurisdictions, hoping to discover one that could serve as a foundation for the project. It was indeed a disheartening endeavor at times, given the absence of legal clarity in our operating space, but we persevered.
This is how and why, at the end of January 2014, I found myself arriving in Zurich with the objective of assessing Switzerland as a viable jurisdiction for what has since become the Ethereum Project.
Switzerland appeared to be intriguing from the outset due to its strategic location in the heart of Europe, simultaneously serving as a financial hub with a welcoming business atmosphere, the world’s center for Human Rights, and a global epicenter for freedom of expression and innovative technology. We were not alone in recognizing these advantages, as on May 12, Silent Circle joined us in beautiful Switzerland for similar motivations.
The stage has been set.
We navigated temporary accommodations for a spell, moving six times in five weeks through various Airbnbs while remaining focused on our mission, and in a short time, the journey to Switzerland transformed into a beacon of hope for Ethereum. Thanks to the welcoming and supportive Swiss crypto community, we were not entirely alone and received invaluable local insights regarding our next steps.
In under a month since our initial arrival at Zurich airport, we managed to establish a Swiss entity operational and a legal strategy began to crystallize. A significant “thank you” goes particularly to the team at Open Transactions and Bitcoin Suisse for their assistance and for the strategic Swiss networks they provided to us.
February 2014 was an eventful month, with advancements occurring on multiple fronts: community expansion, codebase enhancements, wiki contributions, business infrastructure improvements, and legal strategy formulation. During this time, Vitalik unveiled Ethereum for the very first time at the Miami conference. We also had our inaugural Reddit AMA, and the core development team established itself as a top-notch crypto group. Following the Miami conference, Gavin Wood and Jeffrey Wilcke joined us full-time, although they had been passionate contributors to Ethereum for months prior, assisting in the development of the official C++ and GO clients.
As our launch strategy had shifted, instead of launching the Genesis Sale right away, we opted to first release the open-source alpha testnet client. This decision proved to be advantageous as it garnered us increasing attention from the broader crypto community, allowing individuals to see and test that the system truly functions.
March commenced robustly with the release of the Proof of Concept 3 client on the first day. On March 5th, after extensive searching, we finally settled into our Ethereum Spaceship situated in the splendid Canton of Zug.
The “spaceship” symbolizes the inception of holon 000, our Swiss Ethereum headquarters.
From March to May, a significant area of focus was the project’s regulatory aspect. Although it could be frustrating at times, during these months we diligently worked on formulating the legal strategy and establishing the ideal organizational structure for the Ethereum Project while navigating the uncertain global regulatory landscape.
After months of intensive legal strategizing, on May 20th the Digital Finance Compliance Association was established with the aim of engaging with Swiss authorities and offering guidance, as well as support and advice for existing and prospective members.
DFCA is anticipated to gain more prominence in the upcoming months as it expands its scope and interacts with other global jurisdictions. In the meantime, for individuals undertaking crypto projects in Switzerland or seeking to transition to a more favorable regulatory environment, you can contact DFCA for assistance and/or additional information.
June brought a delightful surprise with the Thiel Fellowship awarded to Vitalik for his groundbreaking work with Ethereum and beyond. Simultaneously, it felt like an official acknowledgment of the hard work invested in constructing this new decentralized ecosystem.
On other fronts of the Ethereum Project, by June, we progressed to the fourth version of the Proof of Concept implementations, swiftly approaching the fifth version; our Twitter follower count surpassed 6,000; and the quantity of global meetups dedicated to Ethereum reached 58 groups across 49 different cities, spanning 19 countries.
Things began to grow significantly.
Internally, during this timeframe, we engaged in profound introspective sessions while also having discussions with the community about the essence of the project. All these conversations culminated in one pivotal decision: should we pursue for-profit or non-profit?
The choice made was to take the non-profit pathway to ensure that the vision remains untarnished. We all recognized what “not being evil” signifies for certain individuals when profit is at stake. The community celebrated the decision.
In July, the concept of a 12-second block time began to take form, we successfully established our global legal strategy, and the final preparations for the Genesis Sale were in full swing – with strong emphasis on the development, creation, and testing of the sale app and multi-signature system. In true “victory comes to those who are prepared” fashion, Taylor and Marian successfully delivered a system capable of handling a flow of over 31,500 BTC seamlessly.
July 14th marked the establishment of the Swiss Ethereum Foundation, which was followed on the 22nd by the unveiling of the Proof of Concept 5 and culminating spectacularly on the 24th with the initiation of the Genesis Sale synchronized with a second reddit AMA.
I must confess that we all envisioned great things, yet no one expected that within 24 hours we would eclipse any former effort within the field. Regardless, it turned out to be one of the most gratifying birthday gifts we could have received and a testament that we weren’t insane – or perhaps just that there are numerous other like-minded individuals and we had discovered one another ^_^
During the first part of August, the selling price of ether began its ascent from 2000 ETH/BTC to 19xx ETH/BTC, peaking at a final rate of 1337 ETH/BTC while consistent advancements were made on the technical side. Vitalik drew comparisons between the state of Ethereum at that moment and Bitcoin’s status in mid-2009. Some catching up was required.
Approaching the conclusion of the Genesis Sale, the project’s emphasis transitioned towards constructing the Ethereum core and enhancing the operations. This is also the rationale behind our decision made to initiate a ramp-up in development and global operations prior to the Genesis Sale’s conclusion.
Establishing the banking and financial framework necessary for a venture of this magnitude proved to be quite daunting; nonetheless, after extensive searches and negotiations with various entities, we discovered the solutions required.
Ultimately, per Swiss law, we established a peer-to-peer platform through the Genesis Sale that enables decentralized applications to be designed, launched, and utilized. Ether, recognized as the world’s first and sole cryptofuel, acts as an essential element that energizes all computational tasks and storage functions on the network. Without this system, Ethereum would be vulnerable to denial of service threats, spam, and would rapidly come to a standstill as malevolent or erratic developers initiated infinite computational cycles and other undesirable occurrences. It wasn’t easy to articulate, but fortunately, open-minded individuals exist.
After 42 days, the Genesis Sale concluded, and after nudging each other to determine if we were actually awake, we came to realize that we had reached a historic milestone. It’s still difficult to fathom, yet we achieved the most significant crowdfunding-like “one-time” endeavor in the annals of the Internet. Ever.
As per Wikipedia, Ethereum is classified as the second-largest crowdfunded initiative in the history of the Internet – standing proudly beside the first that amassed over $70 million, yet spread over years, not just 42 days.
If you examine the list, I believe one of the most crucial aspects to note is the nature of the endeavor and the level of backing it has received. Certainly, we have observed gadgets, consoles, and video games accumulating millions in the past – but this time, it’s concerning something substantial and transformative.
More specifically, a Swiss-based non-profit, initiated via cryptocurrency that is creating an open-source, blockchain-driven platform for constructing the next Internet and presenting it to the world.
Immediately following this extraordinary accomplishment, events escalated even further. Paul Brody (IBM) was publicly tweeting about IBM forking Ethereum and experimenting with it for their concept of the Internet of Things. It was certainly an exhilarating announcement and prompted some individuals to view Ethereum from a refreshed perspective.
Looking ahead, the autumn of 2014 was a remarkable period for the development team, both in terms of programming and operational activities. By October, the Berlin hub was fully functional and working intensively, with operations escalating rapidly, culminating on October 5th with the launch of our PoC 6.
This release was significant for various reasons, one of the highlights being the blockchain pace. The block interval was reduced from 60 seconds to 12 seconds, utilizing a new GHOST-based protocol that built upon our past attempts at minimizing the block time to 60 seconds. But that wasn’t all: before the month concluded, on the 26th, we reached another milestone – the first whisper-based DAPP was operational.
On November 3rd, we achieved yet another “world’s first” milestone – the world’s first Ethereum Halloween costume, crafted by a community member 
Meanwhile, by November 7th, the Amsterdam hub was also operational and primed to “go go go”.
November hit its peak when Vitalik edged out Mark Zuckerberg to receive the World Technology Awards accolade for the most cutting-edge software in 2014, alongside the first Ethereum developer conference DEVCON 0 and a concurrent hackathon focused on transparency organizedin the Canton of Geneva.
During the championship of the World Technology ceremony, Vitalik encountered four additional contenders: Jack/Laura Dangermond, Christian Lanng, Kira Radinsky, and, (with drums rolling), Mark Zuckerberg. Yet, Ethereum represents innovation on an entirely different scale, and evidently, we are not the only ones recognizing this.
In some respects, this occasion echoed the Thiel Fellowship: it served as another formal acknowledgment of the groundbreaking potential inherent in this technology. Moreover, it showcases that numerous entrepreneurs and innovators are vigilantly observing #ethereum.
The hackathon centered on transparency took place on November 26th, organized by Professor Jean Henry Morin and Stephan Tual at CUI Geneva, focusing on the theme “rebooting public administration & democracy”.
Approximately 50 individuals of varied backgrounds participated, with the presentation divided into two separate rooms – one catering to less technical participants and another for those who arrived with laptops eager to develop on Ethereum.
Once the presentation I delivered with Taylor concluded, we mixed the attendees and initiated a brainstorming session, prompting everyone to explore innovative ways in which blockchains could enhance transparency in public administration.
Overall, it was a significant success, culminating with Professor Morin attending a roundtable conversation with the Canton of Geneva concerning transparency and the benefits that blockchain innovations like Ethereum offer in this realm.
Ethereum DEVCON proved to be immensely fruitful and vital, as it brought nearly all the developers together, enabling them to connect, share substantial information, and engage in numerous discussions about ideas.
Five consecutive days of presentations, coding, and Ethereum dialogues synchronized the decentralized team members on a common frequency. A comprehensive recap of the conference can be found here, along with recordings of the sessions delivered here.
Before the conclusion of November, we also initiated a community survey, and the findings were remarkable. It was reassuring to witness community support, acknowledging the effort invested in actualizing this vision. After all, the initiative would be nothing without an extraordinary community propelling progress post-launch, and we are all cognizant of this fact.
December welcomed new team members, the unveiling of Proof of Concept 7, and fresh projects like the network intelligence dashboard. On December 8th, the inaugural whisper was transmitted between Go & C++ implementations. No intermediary perceived a thing
In the background, preparations for the security audits were set to commence, leading to the formation of the Ethereum stress-testing team. Collaborating with the security auditors, they assist us in identifying vulnerabilities within the system for resolution. To date, no critical flaws have surfaced, and the audits are advancing smoothly.
In January 2015, we launched PoC 7, and V met representatives from IBM and Samsung at CES, where they were demonstrating what they had created using Ethereum. It was both astonishing and uplifting to observe several proof of concepts developed in a brief period using Ethereum, even though it was still in its initial stages.
January also marked the launch of our bug bounty initiative, designed to motivate individuals from across the globe to examine our code and highlight elements that might have evaded our scrutiny. In summary, January was a month filled with ongoing advancements and enhancements, punctuated by a few events that added excitement to the mix.
February heralded the release of PoC 8, the inaugural Whisper group chat within MIST (our Ethereum browser), and an escalating focus on the Genesis launch along with future plans at the project level.
Recently, Ethereum was invited to collaborate with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and take part in the Web Payments Interest Group. The membership encompasses some of the largest financial institutions, payment service providers, technology firms, and telecommunications companies globally.
Ethereum made a notable impact at the latest meeting of the group (Feb 2–4) held in Utrecht and is expected to have considerable involvement in developing the proposed designs, constructed use cases, and established standards by this committee.
The primary objective of the Web Payments Group is to provide the payments element of the HTML6 specification. The pathway leading to the final release of that specification and its adoption by browser developers will be shaped through the design, implementation, and enhancement of numerous use cases, with Ethereum at the forefront of this development initiative as the preferred technology for much of it.
Below, you can view the group photograph captured during the last W3C event organized in Utrecht, featuring Joseph Lubin and Vinay Gupta, who are seated to the right of the table.
March commenced with a series of updates regarding the Genesis Launch and intensive work sessions of Proof of Concept 9. Vinay Gupta authored a detailed article where he clarified the codenames and their significance for both users and developers, whereas Gavin has begun recording the development process for the multi-phase Ethereum launch.
Overall, it appears that an exceptionally busy and thrilling period lies ahead for Ethereum.
So…here we find ourselves, today, one year after establishing our headquarters in Switzerland – just days away from launching the Ethereum network. We have evolved from a handful of individuals attempting to bootstrap this initiative into a global movement involving thousands of individuals, over 100 gatherings across 33 countries, an impressive array of volunteers, and a distinguished core team exceeding 40 members.
We now form a worldwide community of individuals learning, sharing, and co-creating at an incredible pace.
Epic.
And things haven’t even begun yet.
