Key Takeaways
- Vitalik Buterin almost worked for Coinbase before creating Ethereum.
- ETH is up 57% in the past 30 days, and is trading at $3,857.
- Ethereum is officially 10 years old as of July 30, 2025.
Sometimes in life, and especially in crypto, the most profound changes and transformations to the world happen incidentally.
This was recently evidenced by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who has revealed some fascinating details about the origin story of Ethereum (ETH) and its creator, Vitalik Buterin.
Ethereum is Born
Posting to X, Armstrong explains that he met Buterin over a decade ago at the San Jose Bitcoin conference in 2013, when Buterin was writing for crypto media outlets.
Armstrong invited Buterin to San Francisco, where the exchange had its first office, during which Buterin showed Coinbase “some cool stuff on his laptop.”
Following this, the team wanted Buterin on board and contacted him again to see if he’d be interested in joining the exchange.
However, due to a number of circumstances, including the young Canadian’s inability to get a U.S. work visa, he was forced to return to Canada.
As Armstrong explains, Buterin ended up staying in Canada, where he would ultimately toil away at his computer and create Ethereum, thanks to the U.S.’s “sub-optimal immigration system.”
A Decade in ETH
Ethereum celebrated its 10th anniversary on July 30, 2025, which is a momentous occasion for any company, firm, or project.
But, in ‘crypto years, ‘ a decade is worth a lifetime in regular ‘real-world’ years, as a majority of all blockchain and crypto projects fail within their first three.
So, to become the second-most-valuable crypto with a market cap of over $465 billion at a time when other, incredible, smart and innovative blockchains were emerging, is no small feat.
Ethereum’s dominance comes as little surprise; it’s an incredibly versatile and flexible network upon which many of the best projects are building out their visions either directly on Ethereum, or with their own ETH-compatible sidechains, Layer-2/3 networks, and applications.
It’s now a mainstay of the Web3 ecosystem, and despite some underperformance from the token this year, July has seen its price jump by over 50%, largely due to institutional investors pouring billions into ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs) this month.
Eddie is a gaming and crypto writer at CCN. Covering the often weird and wonderful world of Web3 with an adoring, but skeptical eye.
Prior to CCN, Eddie has spent the past seven years working his way through the crypto, finance, and technology industry. He began with PR and journalism with Bitcoin PR Buzz and BitcoinNews.com, eventually working his way to become a copywriter with a dozen firms, including the likes of Polkadot before returning to journalism in 2023.
Having studied Radio production and journalism at University in the UK, Eddie spent a few years making podcasts and presenting on a local London radio station as he built up his writing chops.
A lifelong skateboarder, Eddie can often be found at the skatepark or touring the streets looking for something new to try. That, or kicking back playing JRPGs on his original PSP.
