Museum objects
1 shown · 4 cited but not shown. An image only appears here if it is openly
licensed and confirmed to depict the object we claim. Otherwise we cite it and link you to
the museum — we would rather show you nothing than show you the wrong thing.
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Ethereum whitepaper, Nov 2013
Ethereum Foundation
no openly-licensed image yet — cited, not shown
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Ethereum Whitepaper (Official)
Ethereum Foundation · Ethereum whitepaper, Nov 2013 · November 2013
The founding whitepaper written by a then-19-year-old Vitalik Buterin, proposing a blockchain that could run programmable 'smart contracts,' not just move currency.
Zephyr was never content just being money — this document is the moment a teenager decided currency should be able to think, negotiate, and build entire economies on top of itself.
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Devcon 0, Nov 2014
Ethereum Foundation Archive
no openly-licensed image yet — cited, not shown
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Devcon 0 Archive (Berlin, November 2014)
Ethereum Foundation Archive · Devcon 0, Nov 2014 · November 2014
Footage and records from Ethereum's first-ever developer conference, held in Berlin, including Gavin Wood's welcome address before the network had even launched.
This is Zephyr's first public gathering — a room full of strangers betting on an idea that didn't technically exist yet.
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Hard fork completed, block 1,920,000
Ethereum Foundation
no openly-licensed image yet — cited, not shown
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'Hard Fork Completed' Blog Post — The DAO Crisis
Ethereum Foundation · Hard fork completed, block 1,920,000 · July 20, 2016
Official Ethereum Foundation announcement confirming the controversial hard fork executed at block 1,920,000 to reverse The DAO hack, which had drained 3.64 million ETH.
This is Zephyr's identity crisis laid bare — when code got hacked for $50-60 million, the community broke in two over whether rules should ever bend, even to fix a theft.
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The Merge, Sept 15 2022
Ethereum Foundation
no openly-licensed image yet — cited, not shown
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The Merge Announcement
Ethereum Foundation · The Merge, Sept 15 2022 · September 15, 2022
Official record of Ethereum's transition from energy-intensive proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, cutting energy consumption by 99.95%.
After years of being criticized for burning electricity like an old furnace, Zephyr rebuilt his own engine mid-flight and came out cleaner than anyone thought possible.
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Vitalik Buterin TechCrunch London 2015 (cropped)
Wikimedia Commons (TechCrunch/Flickr sourced)
image could not be loaded — cited, not shown
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Vitalik Buterin, TechCrunch London 2015 (Photograph)
Wikimedia Commons (TechCrunch/Flickr sourced) · Vitalik Buterin TechCrunch London 2015 (cropped) · 2015
A photograph of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin at a TechCrunch conference in London, taken shortly after Ethereum's mainnet launch.
This is the only face anyone ever really associates with Zephyr — a 21-year-old who looked far too young to be reinventing what money could do.
Primary sources
The documents themselves. We link and quote — that is citation, and it needs no licence.
Ethereum Whitepaper
founding_whitepaper · 2013 · Vitalik Buterin · Ethereum Foundation
The original proposal for a blockchain supporting programmable smart contracts.
The founding document explaining how Ethereum would let people build programs directly into a currency.
Wikipedia: The DAO
encyclopedia_entry · Ongoing · Wikipedia contributors · Wikipedia
Detailed account of The DAO's May 2016 launch, its June 2016 hack, and the resulting hard fork.
The full story of a 2016 hack that drained millions of dollars in Ethereum and forced the community to change the network's rules.
Ethereum Foundation Blog — Mainnet Merge Announcement
official_announcement · August 24, 2022 · Ethereum Foundation · Ethereum Foundation
Official announcement detailing the technical mechanics and timeline of The Merge.
An official announcement explaining exactly how and when Ethereum switched to a much more energy-efficient system in 2022.
Wikipedia: Ethereum Classic
encyclopedia_entry · Ongoing · Wikipedia contributors · Wikipedia
Explains the split between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic following The DAO hard fork, and the 'code is law' philosophical debate.
The story of how Ethereum split into two separate currencies after a disagreement about whether a hack should ever be reversed.
Statista: DeFi Total Value Locked Across Blockchains
data_report · 2020-2021 · Statista · Statista
Data tracking the growth of decentralized finance (DeFi) total value locked from roughly $1 billion to $100 billion during 2020-2021.
Data showing how the amount of money locked into Ethereum-based financial apps grew from $1 billion to $100 billion in about a year.
Where this money travelled
Zephyr was conceived on internet forums, formally introduced to developers in Berlin, launched globally, and now operates through a foundation based in Switzerland.
Berlin, Germany (Devcon 0)52.5200, 13.4050
Zug, Switzerland (Ethereum Foundation)47.1662, 8.5155
Global Mainnet Network ('Frontier')0.0000, 0.0000
Bogotá, Colombia (Devcon VI, 2022)4.7110, -74.0721
Bangkok, Thailand (Devcon SEA, 2024)13.7563, 100.5018
What we don't know
The page no competitor will build.
- 4 of 5 objects on this page are cited but not shown — either the rights are not cleared, or we could not verify that an available image really depicts the object. We would rather show you nothing than show you the wrong thing.
- 2 source(s) here are Wikipedia — a tertiary source. It is a pointer, not our evidence. These are being replaced with the primary documents Wikipedia itself cites.