Ethereum’s initial coin offering took place in 2014. The public sale ran from July 22 through September 2, 2014, before the Ethereum network launched in 2015.
Participants purchased ether using Bitcoin. The sale raised more than 31,000 bitcoins, which were worth approximately 18 million United States dollars at the time. The funds supported development of the Ethereum project and its planned blockchain platform.
Ethereum’s main network launched on July 30, 2015, with the Frontier release. That date is distinct from the 2014 sale: the ICO distributed the future network’s initial ether, while the blockchain itself did not yet process live Ethereum transactions.
The event is often confused with Ethereum’s founding proposal, published in 2013. The proposal, token sale, and network launch were separate milestones in Ethereum’s development.