Charles H. Miller
Ethereum is the new darling of the media, with experts and non-experts alike predicting its bright future. It is not all black and white, though there are certain factors that help drive the Ethereum forward.
And that is what we want to talk about in this article — rather than just say “yes Ethereum will go up,” we want to highlight the factors that we think will help the platform and its currency token (ether) hit the new heights. Here’s what we’ve got…
1. Respected and committed founder
It is said that the long term resilience of any technology or organization is subject to the founding members being committed. In Ethereum’s case, we have Vitalik Buterin — a cryptocurrency researcher, programmer, and co-founder of Bitcoin Magazine — who has done a great job of communicating the rationale for various updates on Ethereum in a pretty transparent manner.
An early Bitcoin fan, he proposed changes to the (Bitcoin) network in late 2013, and after that hasn’t worked out — he proposed development of a new platform. And so the Ethereum was born, featuring blockchain-enabled cryptocurrency plus a scripting language.
2. Ethereum goes beyond money
This is probably the single most important factor why Ethereum has a bright future, and why it will go up in the coming months and years.
Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum goes beyond peer-to-peer money transfers to also enable running of apps on the platform. This in turn expands the capabilities of the overall system, and could potentially disrupt the sharing economy.
How it’s going to do that, you may wonder? By kicking out the middleman in the process.
A blockchain-based platform works without a centralized location where all the data is stored, and we could imagine a low-cost service offering apartment rentals and taxi rides to compete with Airbnb and Uber, respectively.
Similarly, other services could be developed that would be used to directly connect users with vendors, again without any party acting as an intermediary.
3. Big business supports Ethereum
Beyond startups and technology fans, Ethereum managed to get attention from big players which are looking for ways to embrace and/or take advantage of Ethereum to improve their own businesses or better serve their customers.
In March 2017, the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) was created, gathering blockchain start-ups, research groups, and Fortune 500 companies. Members of this group include the likes of Cornell University’s research group, Toyota Research Institute, Samsung SDS, Microsoft, Intel, J.P. Morgan, Merck KGaA, DTCC, Deloitte, Accenture, Banco Santander, BNY Mellon, ING, and National Bank of Canada.
Unsurprisingly, soon after the announcement of EEA – the price of ether skyrocketed. Now imagine what will happen when one of these companies announces an Ethereum-enabled solution? Yup, we expect another bump in the value of ether.
4. Ethereum grows faster than Bitcoin
Bitcoin may be the first on the market, but Ethereum is catching up. Personally I doubt it will reach parity with Bitcoin in the near future, but its capitalization could be worth more than that of Bitcoin. It is rather simple — there will be much more ether coins than bitcoins and the sum of them will be greater than the sum of all bitcoins. That’s how the algorithms of the two networks work — Bitcoin is capped at 21 million coins, while there are no such limits for Ethereum.
Alas, we are still not there, but some people believe that could happen in 2018. At that time, we expect to see the first Ethereum apps launching and getting some early traction, the fact that could propel the value of ether.
Also, the entire market may grow due to the uncertainty in the world affairs, helping ether, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies appreciate in value.
5. Ethereum is just getting started
Although it was in the making for years, Ethereum went live in mid-2015 and started getting serious attention in 2017. So we are talking about a platform (and cryptocurrency) that is just a few years old.
From what we are reading, there’s a long and prosperous life ahead of Ethereum with many cool things in the pipeline. All of these, plus the mentioned uncertainty in the world, will help drive the Ethereum platform forward, all while driving the price of ether up.
Conclusion
The first wave of Ethereum craze is behind us, but from all we know, this platform is just getting started. The fact that its technologically more advanced than Bitcoin and that it has a support of major companies will help it reach the new heights. That being said, we must add that buying ether is an investment, and as such comes with a risk. This article should not be considered as an investment advice, and we expressly disclaim any liability, including in respect of direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage.
The question for you is — do you want to miss out on Ethereum? It’s your call…
