Interesting article, the origins of Ethereum remind me of a tv series called Startup (about a cryptocurrency).

With all the hype with crytpos, this one seem to have a solid grounding with big banks backing it. It is here to stay, the smart contracts are the biggest game changer in a long time, but with so many 'institutions' involved, we need to wait and see if the benefits of decentralisation reach the common citizen or it means more profit for the big fish as usual.

Thanks for the article, it would have been useful to include some links to the references (people/projects), but it is a good summary and I get the picture.

Regards