Ethereum is the continuation of the grand Blockchain experiment.

The year 2013 bought increased awareness for Bitcoin. Following that, a general consensus began to emerge in the mainstream. This technology was very important. But for what exactly? It wasn’t certain.

Some began to wonder. Would it be possible to build higher level applications on the technology?

This lead to frustration. Whether bitcoin was capable of supporting such applications was uncertain. It was cumbersome. At the very least it wasn’t there yet.

Technology moves fast and some grew impatient. A then 19 year old wunderkind, Vitalik Buterin, would blaze his own trail.

Buterin theorized a Bitcoin like consensus machine (or blockchain) with complete scripting. If you could imagine it, you could build it, easily.

Ethereum would be a tool for any developer to make any decentralized application. The idea of a “world computer” or “php in the cloud” solidified.

A community of blockchain enthusiasts supported it. Two years later the first iteration of the network was delivered.

In that time there have been deliberate attempts at building the killer decentralized application on Ethereum. But the less deliberate attempts are gaining momentum.

Ethereum itself was made possible by an ICO. This is a new term. It stands for Initial Coin Offering. Blockchain projects issue their own scarce network tokens, in exchange for Ether (ETH); the scarce network token that makes Ethereum work.

We have seen projects like Golem, vDice and Augur. All are raising significant amounts because of this new paradigm.

Ethereum has emerged as the leading platform for this type of financing. With Ethereum, it is very easy to do.

The approach is catching on like wildfire.

It is a new means by which projects can raise necessary. It is best understood as a type of decentralized kickstarter.

Some within blockchain have greeted it with scorn, others with praise. Either way, it is unlikely to go away. There is too much utility and opportunity in it.

This approach also allows anyone, from anywhere, to participate in new projects and share in their success. This was previously the purview of only elite financiers.

Ultimately it is likely we are witnessing the first useful application of blockchain technology since Bitcoin re-imagined money. It will likely force the entire industry of venture capital to adapt.