The recent decline in Bitcoin price has put the spotlight back on the second biggest cryptocurrency, Ethereum. According to market share, Ether can potentially replace it as the number one digital currency.
Ethereum is a decentralized software platform that enables Smart Contracts and Decentralized Applications (DApps) to be built and run without any chance of downtime, fraud, control, or interference from a third party.
It was crowdfunded in 2014 by fans all over the world. The project had an initial coin offering (ICO), where one Ether cost $0.311. With this token, they managed to raise more than $18 million during presales on July 22, 2014. At that time, the market cap was only $1 billion, while it’s about $523 billion today. When you compare it with Bitcoin’s $955.55 billion market cap, you start seeing a pretty good perspective comparison between the two.
There are several reasons why Ethereum may have a chance to overtake Bitcoin at some point in time, some of which are stated below:
- Bitcoin is outdated
Bitcoin was created in 2009 as a form of digital cash, and it can’t make smart contracts. Ethereum was built in 2015 with the idea of enabling people to run smart contracts and DApps on top of it. Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dash, Monero are all forks of the original Bitcoin, which means that they share its history, but they also have their unique features. Ethereum has managed to create an entire ecosystem around itself, and it’s still growing.
- Businesses are using Ethereum.
Developers and programmers aren’t just using Ethereum. A lot of businesses are taking advantage of its features as well. Maersk, the world’s largest shipping company, uses Ethereum to power its global trade. The company has created a blockchain solution that digitizes and streamlines the entire shipping process. Walmart is also using it to track food items throughout the supply chain. Other businesses that are using Ethereum include J.P. Morgan, Microsoft, ING, Intel, and many others.
- Ethereum will soon switch to Proof of Stake.
Ethereum is going to be making a significant change shortly. It will be switching from Proof of Work (POW) to Proof of Stake (POS). This means that miners will no longer mine Ether with their GPUs or CPUs. They will have to start staking their Ether to earn rewards. This switch is scheduled to take place in late 2022 or early 2023.
- The Ethereum Foundation
The Ethereum Foundation is a Swiss non-profit organization created in 2014 to support and promote Ethereum and related technologies. It’s responsible for the development of Ethereum. The foundation has a team of developers that are constantly working on new features and improvements. They also hold meetups and events worldwide to educate people about Ethereum and blockchain technology.
- Ethereum is more than just a cryptocurrency.
As you can see, Ethereum is much more than just a cryptocurrency. It’s a decentralized platform that enables smart contracts and DApps to be built and run without any chance of downtime, fraud, control, or interference from a third party. This versatility makes it a desirable option for anyone looking to invest in cryptocurrencies.
What can Ethereum do but Bitcoin can not?
Ethereum incorporates blockchain technology much like Bitcoin but substantially different. Ethereum’s primary purpose is to operate ‘smart contracts’ – computer programs that can execute transactions and agreements automatically when certain conditions are met.
This means that developers can create markets, store registries of debts or promises such as loans, or import some publication into a self-executing contract with an agreement that has been signed. It allows users to manage agreements with each other which would be enforced automatically on the system. While some blockchain-based currencies have attempted this before (Mozilla and Mastercoin), none of them initially gained much momentum for this usage case outside of digital goods games like Cryptokitties.
We believe smart contracts will be a significant use case for blockchains shortly, and Ethereum provides the right foundational pieces to make that happen.
Conclusion
Ethereum has been around for a while now, and its primary purpose is to provide a platform where DApps can be built on top of it. With new projects being introduced almost every day, the demand for Ethereum will likely continue growing as well. Whether or not it will manage to replace Bitcoin as the number one cryptocurrency by market share remains to be seen, but it certainly looks promising, With the help of nsbroker.com you can track the rate of cryptocurrencies.