Have you ever wondered why Ethereum Still Excites Investors?
Aadhya Khatri
Despite the fact that ethereum has more or less cooled off though, there are several reasons it still excites many cryptocurrency investors.
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A few years ago, Ethereum was emerging not just as a valuable cryptocurrency, but as the first legitimate challenge to bitcoin’s supremacy. Though it never approached bitcoin’s price or market cap, its potential to expand led many to get excited about its long-term value. Since then, the buzz around Ethereum has subsided a little bit. More competitors have emerged that offer similar functionality, making Ethereum less unique. And it has still never come close to approaching bitcoin in value.
Despite the fact that Ethereum has more or less cooled off though, there are several reasons it still excites many cryptocurrency investors.
Utility
Even if Ethereum is no longer quite as unique as it once was, it got a head start on most of its competition. As a result, it is still one of two cryptocurrencies (the other being litecoin) that often appears alongside bitcoin where usage opportunities arise. We actually covered an example of this last year, when we noted that UNICEF was accepting cryptocurrency donations in the form of both bitcoin and Ethereum. It appears that as we start to see more opportunities to spend (and donate) cryptocurrency around the world, Ethereum continues to be a priority — which only helps its long-term potential.
Price
It’s easy for some to regard Ethereum as a mild disappointment, given it has never risen to truly challenge bitcoin’s supremacy. When you look at cryptocurrency trading prices overall though, it’s immediately clear that Ethereum is still the next most valuable asset behind bitcoin. When you consider it in this context. It’s still a very intriguing option for investors. If you forget about the notion of Ethereum competing with bitcoin, it still looks like one of the strongest and most reliable assets in the crypto category.
Bitcoin Competition
If we’re considering that some of the buzzes around Ethereum have subsided due to increasing competition, we should also note that bitcoin, too, is facing new challenges. For one thing, we know that China is pursuing its own centralised digital currency in the aftermath of a 2019 bitcoin crackdown. This could significantly hurt bitcoin’s potential in East Asian markets, and could also signal a broader worldwide trend toward bank-backed, crypto-like alternatives. On top of these concerns, Facebook’s long-rumored “Libra” stablecoin may also compete with bitcoin for certain usage opportunities. We aren’t suggesting here that these developments will cripple bitcoin. But they could affect its value and potential enough for Ethereum to “catch up,” so to speak.
Value Transfer
Day-to-day spending opportunity aside, one of the most useful things about cryptocurrency is their ability to transfer value. Bitcoin, Ethereum, ripple, and other options are all well regarded for this purpose, and here at least we actually have seen Ethereum catch up to bitcoin. As of this past April, it's value transfers began to rival bitcoin. This is somewhat misleading given that not all value transfers on the Ethereum network actually involve the ether token. But it still speaks to the idea that Ethereum is still moving toward reaching its potential.
Given all of the above, it’s easy to see why some crypto investors remain enthusiastic about Ethereum.