Ethereum
Ethereum is the community-run technology powering the cryptocurrency ether (ETH) and thousands of decentralized applications.[1] Ethereum was conceived by Vitalik Buterin in 2013 with a mainnet launch on 30 July 2015. Other named founders include included Gavin Wood, Charles Hoskinson, Anthony Di Iorio and Joseph Lubin. [2]
Ethereum was the first blockchain to support smart contracts, since then many new blockchains have been created (sometimes referred to as alt-L1s) with the same purpose.