Buy Ethereum (ETH): value and price trends

What is Ethereum

Ethereum is a decentralised blockchain platform created to support smart contracts and decentralised applications (dapps). Its nickname, The World Computer, reflects its ability to run programs on the network in a censorship-resistant way. It is among the most capitalised crypto-assets on the market. ETH, the native crypto-asset, is used to pay network fees (the gas fees) and to secure the protocol. Ethereum was conceived by Vitalik Buterin (project started in 2013-2014, with an ICO of over 18 million dollars) together with co-founders such as Gavin Wood and Jeffrey Wilcke.

How it works and network updates

In 2022, with the upgrade known as The Merge, Ethereum switched from the Proof of Work consensus mechanism to Proof of Stake, drastically reducing the network’s energy consumption. Since then, security has been ensured by validators who stake ETH.

Layer 2 solutions (such as Arbitrum, Optimism and Base) play a growing role: these networks rely on Ethereum to offer faster, cheaper transactions, and on these networks too the fees are paid in ETH, which supports demand for the crypto-asset. In terms of accessibility, the launch in the United States of spot Ethereum ETFs, following those on Bitcoin, has broadened the range of parties that can gain exposure to the asset through regulated instruments.

Price history

Between 2020 and 2023 the price of ETH fluctuated significantly, rising from around 200 € to over 4,000 € in 2021, then correcting in 2022. In 2024 it settled around 2,500 €. In 2025, between April and September, the value rose from around $1,600 to around $4,600, then corrected in the following months along with the rest of the market. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Buying Ethereum and staking

On Young Platform you can activate ETH staking in Liquid Staking mode through the provider Lido, with a minimum amount of 0.02 ETH. The ETH rewards received are automatically re-staked, unless otherwise indicated: they do not constitute financial interest, they are variable, they depend on the dynamics of the Ethereum protocol and on the provider’s fees, and they are not guaranteed.

The Liquid Staking service relies on the Lido protocol, managed by third parties and falling outside the MiCAR authorisation scope. It involves specific risks: validator slashing, possible divergence of the stETH price from ETH (depeg) and technological risks of the protocol.

For clients in the Club Young Platform loyalty programme who hold a minimum amount of YNG tokens, additional bonuses in YNG are provided, in addition to the ETH rewards, under the terms set out in the Club information notice. YNG is a utility crypto-asset issued by Young Platform S.p.A.; for conditions, risks and details, consult the YNG White Paper.