In the last couple of years, we have seen a big development in technology which possibly opened new doors to the future. The worldwide pandemic is just one challenge we are facing at the moment. Political changes have occurred as well and powers have been shifting. Newcomers like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musks are not only pushing forward their space programs in the hope to bring humanity closer to the moon but also invested heavily in the development of new technologies for a more globalized and digitalized world.
The one technological development which seems to be especially promising and revolutionary is the development of blockchain technology. The new digital currencies known as cryptocurrencies have been in the focus of all media for the last years and many see in them a new way to a global monetary system that operates faster and safer than all fiat currencies we have been using so far. Many companies and institutions have started to adopt the new currencies. Tesla for example announced that they would accept Bitcoin as a payment method earlier this year which has driven up the value of the coins dramatically.
Other branches of the market followed quickly. The gambling and gaming industry, for instance, started to adopt Bitcoin and other cryptos as well. Bitcoin Casinos and other so-called crypto games popped up everywhere on the internet as cryptos offer a faster and secure way of payment than former payment methods.
Now though, Elon Musk, the chief of Tesla, has stated that he would withdraw from accepting Bitcoin due to concerns about the sustainability and negative impact the mining process of the coin has on the environment. As fast as its value jumped up, it fell down after this statement. This vulnerability of Bitcoin has shifted the focus of investors towards alternative cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum or Dogecoin.
As many have started to invest more in Ethereum, the question arises, whether the Altcoins could eventually overtake Bitcoin at a certain point. We have gathered the info you need to know on this subject! Keep on reading!
Ethereum is growing fast
While Bitcoin is still holding its position on the top of cryptos with a huge distance to all other Altcoins, Ethereum is already in second place for a while. But this may not stay like this forever. Right now the largest virtual currency Bitcoin is still more than twice as big as Ethereum, but the gap narrowed by about 350 billion US-Dollar in May, courtesy of one of Bitcoin’s worst drops and a smaller retreat in Ether. Many experts argue that Ether is starting to be seen as a better growth story for the long-term view.
As said before, Bitcoin and other cryptos have been under pressure since Elon Musk withdrew his support and China started to crack down on mining plants and announced further regulations against cryptos. In May Bitcoin was down around 37 per cent, which is one of its worst retreats on record so far. Ethereum though kept on standing quite strong with a retreat of only around 11 per cent. While Bitcoin retreated its value to around 35,7 US-Dollar, only little change has been seen for Ethereum’s value.
Furthermore, Ether is up more than 900 percent over the past year, exceeding Bitcoin’s 275 per cent climb. Given these huge gains, experts see a chance for the Ether coin to eventually overtake Bitcoin, or at least stay alive for a long amount of time.
Ethereum is already well established
Another reason that speaks for Ethereum eventually taking over Bitcoin is that it is already extremely well established. To be an efficient cryptocurrency that is a real alternative to fiat currencies it is not enough to be just fast and well structured. In the end, the whole thing only works, if the coins are accepted by a large number of merchants. Fortunately, Ethereum is not a small fish in the ocean anymore. Ethererum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and it already has a big influence.
Several Fortune 500 companies, newcomer start-ups and technology vendors teamed up and founded the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. This group is now the largest open-source blockchain alliance in the entire world.
Obviously, the main idea behind the project is to create a vast network that uses Ethereuem as a payment method and exchanges value via digital coin. The participants of this network are not small fish either. Big global players like JP Morgan, Microsoft and ING are among the 180 members of the alliance. The number of members keeps on growing and gives experts reason to believe that Ethereum has great chances to not only survive in the future but also overcome the so popular Bitcoin.
A long way to go
Even if many experts are seeing high potential in Ethereum overcoming Bitcoin at a certain point, there is still a long way to go for Ethereum. Some people see Bitcoin as still a way too well established to be kicked from its pole position. For some experts, Bitcoin will fend off rivals to stay in the top spot, already because of the sheer amount of attention it gets.
The argument is based on, that a cryptocurrency is basically living from its supporters and that not only on a material level but also in the way people believe in it and its general popularity. Bitcoin has still the best outside validation signals given how institutions and tycoons like Musk keep talking about it. Even though Elon Musk has criticized the coin before, Bitcoins still remains the most popular cryptocurrency throughout the world.
The senior market analyst Edward Moya has stated that he sees Bitcoin still as the king of the cryptos which it will remain. According to him, Bitcoin has simply too big of a lead for Ethereum to catch up quickly. Furthermore, it has one major advantage compared to Ethereum. A fixed supply of only 21 million coins. Also, many people are already very dependent on Bitcoin, which doesn’t necessarily have to be good for the coin.
However, Ethereum is a strong cryptocurrency with high potential. Even if the expert’s opinions on whether Ethereum will be able to overcome Bitcoin in the future, are divided, it is a good idea to invest in both of them, to diversify the risk and win in any case.
