If you compared the crypto market to the music charts, it would be fair to say that no artist has ever managed to hold the No.1 position for as long as bitcoin has. Ethereum (ETH) meanwhile, has been holding the No.2 spot for such an extended period that is was doubtful this might ever change. Until now!
Those who are ETH holders and supporters have been disappointed that this blockchain has had to be content with playing second fiddle to BTC for so long. Surely its position as the bedrock of DeFi must indicate it is no poor relation? Now it seems that ETH is on a new trajectory into the limelight, something its fans welcome.
Everybody talks about bitcoin
It is true that BTC has been most people’s entry point into crypto, with the more adventurous diversifying into ETH and other altcoins after time. As Katharine Wooller writes, “I am interested to note that most of the more vociferous fans of crypto from the traditional banking industry (i.e. Blackrock, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan) tend to limit their comments to Bitcoin.” This is also true of the MSM, when they do write about crypto – it’s all about the bitcoin, even though the journalists assigned these stories still appear to know very little about cryptocurrencies in general.
The market tells a very different story. This year and last, ETH ‘wiped the floor’ with BTC, as Wooller says. “In 2020 the appreciation was more than double – Bitcoin’s gains were a non-too shabby-240% vs Ethereum’s stratospheric 450%.”
Furthermore, ETH has only fallen below its initial price against BTC for the first five months of its existence in 2015.
Yes, BTC’s market cap does dwarf that of ETH, but that’s not the only data to look at. Since January 2020, Bitcoin’s dominance has fallen from 69% to 56% whilst Ethereum’s has risen from 7% to 12%.
Ethereum has a great use case
The use case is another aspect to consider. BTC has become widely accepted as a store of value and “thus heir apparent to our current economic system.” Wooller correctly states. Ethereum’s utility on the other hand is more complex, and perhaps less comprehensible for retail investors. However, its smart contracts have the powerful potential to provide us with a huge variety of innovations in finance, gambling, gaming, advertising, identity management, and supply chain. As Wooller says, “Personally, I see Ethereum’s potential market as greater than Bitcoin’s albeit hard to explain to someone new to the industry!” I think most ETH owners would agree with that.
It is time that not just the crypto media, but also the MSM, gave ETH and the Ethereum blockchain more oxygen, so that the public can understand its potential. It has an excellent spokesperson in its creator, Vitalek Buterin, unlike BTC, which only has the mythical Satoshi.
I agree with Wooller when she says, “Recently Ethereum has broken two all-time highs in quick succession this April. I would expect, therefore, in the medium term to see more investors and treasuries alike increasing their Ethereum holdings.”
It’s time to give Ethereum the limelight it deserves.