Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) was launched in 2015 and has become the second most valuable in the crypto sector over time, worth $226 billion today.
As the cryptocurrency turns eight years old, here’s a look at how much an investment at the launch of Ethereum would be worth today.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposed the digital currency via a 2014 white paper, with the goal of adding scripting to make it easier for application development and to set up binding contracts.
Ethereum was officially launched on July 30, 2015. During its first calendar year, Ethereum traded between $0.42 and $1.39 with a starting price of around $0.74 according to SoFi. The first Ethereum transaction was carried out on Aug. 7, 2015, according to Global Data.
Ethereum gained momentum thanks to its listing on cryptocurrency platform Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN). It became the second-ever cryptocurrency, after Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), to be listed on the platform.
Over the years there have been several major events and updates to Ethereum including the fork of Ethereum 2.0 and Ethereum Classic (CRYPTO: ETC).
Ethereum saw increased attention and a surge in valuation related to the boom of non-fungible tokens in 2021. Many of the NFTs were built on the Ethereum blockchain, including CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club. A record sale of a Beeple NFT created interest in NFTs and Ethereum.
“AI agents will be the primary consumers of Ethereum blockspace by the 2030s,” said Ryan Adams, a crypto investor on X. “AIs have no country. So Ethereum will provide services to AIs that nations provide to humans.”
While 2022 brought several bankruptcies of cryptocurrency companies and sent the price of Ethereum lower, it also was the year of another important event for Ethereum with the merge that happened in September of last year.
The Ethereum merge took the cryptocurrency from being a proof-of-work, such as Bitcoin, to proof-of-stake.
An investment in the second largest cryptocurrency the year it launched would have generated a strong return for investors.
While it was harder to invest in Ethereum prior to its inclusion on major cryptocurrency exchanges, investors were able to get the crypto after it launched.
Based on a starting price of $0.74, an investor could have purchased 1,351.35 ETH at the time of launch.
The $1,000 investment in Ethereum at launch would be worth $2,527,943.42 today based on a price of $1,870.68 at the time of writing.
At its all-time high of $4,815 set in November 2021, the $1,000 investment in Ethereum at the time of launch would have been worth $6,506,750.25.
Ethereum has traded between $1,081.14 and $2,137.45 over the last 52 weeks. There is no guarantee that the cryptocurrency will return to yearly or all-time highs.
While many missed out on investing in Ethereum in the early days, the exercise shows that sometimes investing a small amount in a high-conviction idea can have a huge payout in the future.
Produced in association with Benzinga
Edited by Alberto Arellano and Newsdesk Manager
