Ethereum, while one of the most important innovations in blockchain history, was not the first cryptocurrency. It was proposed in late 2013 and launched in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin and a team of co-founders. What sets Ethereum apart is its ability to run smart contracts — pieces of self-executing code — and host decentralized applications (dApps) on its network. This allowed developers to build financial tools, games, marketplaces, and more without centralized servers. However, Ethereum was inspired by Bitcoin and came several years after its release. While Ethereum significantly expanded what blockchain could be used for beyond simple transactions, it still builds on the core principles laid down by Bitcoin. In short, Ethereum is revolutionary in its own right, but it does not hold the distinction of being the original cryptocurrency.