Five years have passed since the Ethereum blockchain was launched and the first tokens were mined. The first operation of this kind returned a reward of five ETH tokens. According to data collected by cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinfirm, the value of these mined tokens, which were deposited into Kraken, has appreciated into 53 blocks for a total of 265 ETH.

More data provided by Coinfirm shows that a small fraction of ETH, called a Wei, went to a different address than the one where the mined tokens were first deposited. Another address was used to deposit a Wei, which the the smallest fraction that one ETH token can be broken into.

Ever since the first ETH tokens were mined from the blockchain, the digital currency has climbed to the second spot in the market capitalization chart after Bitcoin. The original intent of the Ethereum network was not to provide a token that would compete against Bitcoin; main developer Vitalik Buterin has always stated that he wants to see the blockchain used in applications other than payments and financial services. Nevertheless, Ethereum is the blockchain that Russia and Singapore have chosen to issue digital versions of their respective sovereign currencies.

The initial coin offering of Ethereum priced each token at just $0.31. During the bull rally of the cryptocurrency markets in 2018, ETH reached a maximum value of $1,400. At the time, Buterin criticized ETH traders for driving up value based on pure speculation. Although Buterin has amassed a nice profit from his personal stake in ETH, he is not a fan of cryptocurrency trading. Interestingly, he believes that Bitcoin Cash is the best token positioned for widespread circulation and utility as a system of payments.

As of 2020, Ethereum enjoys a privileged status as the most advanced and flexible blockchain. The way in which the network has applied upgrades has been very smooth when compared to Bitcoin. Most of the digital currency tokens currently active run on a version of the open source blockchain. As more central banks play with the idea of creating digital versions of fiat currency, Ethereum will continue to be the preferred blockchain for this purpose.