"In the last few months, there has been a great amount of interest into the area of using Bitcoin-like blockchains - the mechanism that allows for the entire world to agree on the state of a public ownership database - for more than just money." Vitalik Buterin, 2013




Ethstory

Takens Theorem

v4.1. May 4th, 2021
Current version: ethstory.eth.link

A Visual History of Ethereum in Data

Ethstory is a data visualization project, using network and other diagrams to depict major themes and events in the history of Ethereum. Visualizations will be released as NFTs, and draw inspiration from many exciting artists in this space who use crypto themes to underpin their work. Each original visualization uses thousands of data points from on-chain and other resources to create symbolic depictions of Ethereum's intriguing history. Scarcity is associated with depth in time — the earlier the depicted events, the rarer the items. On OpenSea, owners (and only owners) unlock a link to a password-protected vector-quality PDF, permitting printing, zooming, etc. to any resolution.

There will only be 4 series produced. Each series will include several originals, and each of these originals will have a limited number of editions. These will be issued as NFTs minted on OpenSea. Series will be released in waves in spring, 2021.

The project is stewarded by Sfermion, and initial sales hosted on OpenSea. Takens Theorem will hold a complete set of these NFTs, and 100% of the ether in initial sales of the remaining NFTs will go to charity (minus gas costs for maintenance). Charities will be chosen among those that take ether. Toggle "Owner's Guide" below to get more information about donations. The decision to donate to charity is to leverage the recent surge of interest in NFTs and crypto to support important causes, and to bring further attention to the many exciting artistic projects taking place on Ethereum.

Series 1: "36PrZ (Conception)"

"Chain archaeology" describes the analysis of on-chain activity extending back in time. I love to analyze old on-chain data. It sometimes reveals curious patterns in various pockets of the chain. You wonder who were the individuals or organizations behind these patterns. This first series is in a dark theme. For me, it connotes exploration of some strange, ancient cave. Chain archaeology is like the study of etchings made permanent on the cave wall. The cave's dark surrounding signals something intriguing behind these etchings, of human intentions before knowing their future course. It also bears reminding, for those new to crypto: Once made, these digital etchings are forever.

The first series "36PrZ (Conception)" illustrates some basic elements of pre-Ethereum history. All are based on actual data, structured and laid out in a manner that produces visuals that relay this early significance. Each original was generated using thousands of pieces of data drawn from original sources, including Ethereum documentation and on-chain activity.

4 originals, 22 minted. Ether from initial sales of 18 of 22 NFTs (82%) will be donated to charity (minus gas costs for maintenance). Visit the collection on OpenSea.

WPYP Chromosome (4 Editions)

Inject BTC (5 Editions)

Bridging BTC (6 Editions)

Birth (7 Editions)

Series 2: "0xBB9bc (Branching)"

It is in Ethereum's nature to expand and diversify, to branch and bring into existence new varieties, new experiences. This is true in its very founding — the genetic material of Ethereum is agnostic to underlying codebase, and so permits multiple distinct implementations. It is also true of some of Ethereum's most formative episodes — such as the fraught decision to hard fork after the attack on the DAO (0xBB9bc[...]). This series is brighter than the first, signaling a kind of "turning on the light," actualizing and perceiving these rapidly branching projects. All 4 originals are based on actual data or documentation, structured and laid out in a manner that produces visuals that relay this early significance. Each original was generated using thousands of pieces of data drawn from original sources, including Ethereum documentation and on-chain activity.

4 originals, 26 minted. Ether from initial sales of 22 of 26 NFTs (85%) will be donated to charity (minus gas costs for maintenance). Visit the collection on OpenSea.

Clients (5 Editions)

Big Bang (6 Editions)

Reentrancy (7 Editions)

Hardest Fork (8 Editions)

Series 3: "0x06012 (Complexifying)"

Series 2 symbolized the several ways in which Ethereum rapidly branched into varied agendas and projects. Series 3 highlights the extreme degree to which this complexity unfolded after 2016. Curiously, many of these ideas can be found in the white paper, which highlighted the promise of "sub-currencies" and "derivative financial instruments" and "identity systems" and more. But these glimmers from the white paper are much more striking when we see them implemented. Three such themes are shown here. The first, emerging primarily in 2017 and peaking early in 2018, is the so-called initial coin offering (ICO) phase. Here, seemingly countless projects were built on Ethereum, resulting in what has sometimes been called a "craze." The second is decentralized finance (DeFi) — smart contracts that represent complex financial instruments that interact with each other (and with users) in a way that acts almost like automated, decentralized "banks" (without the banks — "bankless"). The third is relevant to the present project itself — the concept of a non-fungible token (NFT) and its implementation on Ethereum.

This series is the most colorful, indicating this complexification of form and content across the Ethereum platform. Ethereum's massive and highly innovative developer community led to a complex tapestry of projects. All 4 originals are based on actual data or documentation, structured and laid out in a manner that produces visuals that relay these major themes. Each original was generated using thousands of pieces of data drawn from original sources, including Ethereum documentation and on-chain activity.

4 originals, 29 minted. Ether from initial sales of 25 of 29 NFTs (86%) will be donated to charity (minus gas costs for maintenance). Visit the collection on OpenSea.

Proliferation (6 Editions)

Mania (7 Editions)

Swapcircuit (8 Editions)

The Open Sea (8 Editions)

Series 4: "0x00000 (Transforming)"

Prior series depict Ethereum's dynamism. Ethereum will transform yet more. In the white paper, Vitalik Buterin described strategies to achieve scalability through new consensus processes. Years later, an upgrade is now underway — Eth2 — the major transformation of Ethereum sometimes known as "Serenity." While Ethereum's developer community continues to innovate and expand on top of Eth1, in parallel teams of developers are beginning to implement and test Eth2. Both agendas continue to transform what is possible on Ethereum and blockchain.

This is the final series of Ethstory. It is, approximately, where the story of Ethereum is at the time of this writing (mid 2021). The originals here depict this further transformation. Major changes will be seen in the coming months, especially with further implementation of Eth2. These originals depict this horizon of change. All are based on actual data, structured and laid out in a manner that produces visuals that relay this future significance.

4 originals, 33 minted. Ether from initial sales of 29 of 33 NFTs (88%) will be donated to charity (minus gas costs for maintenance). Visit the collection on OpenSea.

TCP/IP (7 Editions)

The Metaverse (8 Editions)

64 Shards (9 Editions)

Deposits (9 Editions)

" Ethereum is open-ended by design, and we believe that it is extremely well-suited to serving as a foundational layer for a very large number of both financial and non-financial protocols in the years to come." Vitalik Buterin, 2013

Ethstory