Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and the first smart contract blockchain platform that allows developers to build decentralized applications (dApps) –founded by Vitalik Buterin in 2013.
More poetically –Ethereum is the world’s supercomputer that powers tons of decentralized applications and aims to power the Web 3.0
A new era of a decentralized, all-inclusive internet that’s free from censorship and promotes freedom.
You can already see this dream come alive with the birth and rise of blockchain-based companies such as Unstoppable Domains.
And the tons of DeFi projects and dApps being built on Ethereum to power the new world of finance, information, and freedom.
Why Ethereum is a Good Investment now
Ethereum is the king of altcoins and probably the only cryptocurrency aside from bitcoin that’s actually worth the hype and for many good reasons:
- Ethereum has the largest ecosystem and developer community in the crypto market.
- Ethereum 2.0 – "the savior" is already here to take away the problems of scalability, high fees, and much more.
- The entire DeFi market is literarily built on Ethereum, and still growing fast —other blockchains are welcome to copy.
- More than 70% of all tokens are created and running on Ethereum.
- If Bitcoin is the father of all cryptocurrencies, Ethereum is their mother.
There are over 2, 700 tokens according to CoinMarketCap and more than 80% of them are Ethereum-based ERC-20 tokens.
Tokens are cryptocurrencies that run or exist on another –parent – blockchain.
More so, the entire DeFi ecosystem is built on Ethereum as per data from DeFiPulse as seen below.
"]
That means that nearly half of all cryptocurrencies are built and running on the Ethereum blockchain.
With these facts, we can safely conclude that Ethereum is too big to fail.
So, the next time you hear some maximalist from other projects telling you Ethereum is slow, Ethereum fee is too high, Ethereum is blah, blah, blah.
Just know that they're just salesmen not ready to tell you the full truth.
Every project has its own shortcomings.
And that's why you as an investor have to use your common sense most of the time.
A strong use case drives demand for a cryptocurrency.
This increased demand shows how valuable the project is and will ultimately reflect in the price of the coin.
Given the increasing number of applications being built on the Ethereum, all things being equal we can expect to see an ever-increasing demand for the Ether (ETH) which powers all of these projects and applications running on the Ethereum blockchain.
Ethereum 2.0
More so, with Ethereum 2.0, Ethereum should be faster, more scalable, and provide for lower transaction fees.
In extension, more projects can be built on the blockchain and existing projects can scale for mass adoption.
All these fueling the demand for Ether (ETH) and ultimately supporting the expected price appreciation.
In addition, more Ethereum is being locked up in DeFi, and even more, will be staked in ETH 2.0.
All these will go towards reducing the circulating supply, which will expectedly cause the price of ETH to rise.
Ethereum dApps
Finally, according to data available on StateofTheDapps, there are exactly 2638 running 14 different smart contracts blockchains including Ethereum.
1897 of the 2638 dApps are built and running on the Ethereum blockchain.
That means that more than 70% of all cryptocurrency dApps are built and running on Ethereum and Ethereum 2.0 is not even live yet.
Currently, Ethereum doesn’t seem to have a more worthy rival in the smart contract market "yet".
What do you think about Ethereum in relation to other altcoins? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.
This post was taken from The 11 best cryptocurrencies to buy now, which appeared first on CryptoSorted.
