I’ll take you on a short journey on the next best thing after Bitcoin in crypto land.
Ethereum (ETH).
It’s most likely the best profitable opportunity from the “established” crypto-assets today.
ETH is the 2nd largest cryptocurrency by valuation coming it at over $350 billion.
I know many of the readers out there have a hard time wrapping their heads around Bitcoin, and I will vouch that ETH could be the real “catch up trade” if the ride to $60,000 was missed in Bitcoin.
Let’s take a look at what's driving Ethereum's recent price action.
Why is Ethereum on the rise?
ETH was launched in 2015, and it's famous for being the first cryptocurrency with a programmable blockchain.
While other cryptocurrencies were using blockchain technology to record transactions, ETH offered a blockchain that developers could use.
Through ETH, developers can create decentralized apps (dApps).
These dApps are a fundamental part of some of the biggest current trends in cryptocurrency. They're used for decentralized finance (DeFi), which are platforms that provide financial services without a middleman, such as a bank. They're also used with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — digital assets that people buy and sell as collectibles.
Offering a robust platform to build other apps on it is one of the biggest differences between bitcoin and ETH and also why ETH could have more upside to the price in the long term.
As of last count, about 80% of dApps are built on ETH.
Fortunately, ETH benefits from the first-mover advantage in this respect and will attract higher quality developers to work on dApps.
The development on dApps could create an ecosystem that supersedes anything bitcoin can produce.
Another critical reason for the higher prices in ETH is the asset is currently going through a series of structural upgrades.
The Ethereum network’s long-planned upgrade to a scalable, proof-of-stake consensus model grows closer.
This should take place sometime at the end of October and Ethereum’s price could see some major movement around that time.
It’s plausible that we get a “buy the rumor, sell the news” type of price action meaning the lead up to upgrade could see some big up days with a modest sell-off when the upgrade comes through.
These upgrades will make ETH more scalable with faster transaction processing. It will also make ETH more secure and more environmentally friendly.
More specifically, Ethereum’s upgrade is better known as ETH 2.0 and aims to fulfill its original vision of the network to become an efficient, global-scale, and general-purpose transaction platform while retaining crypto-economic security and decentralization.
Should you buy Ethereum right now?
I believe ETH will be higher than Bitcoin in the future.
Why?
Its co-originator, Vitalik Buterin, is an Elon Musk type of figure in the crypto community — ready to move mountains and pull off miracles one after the other.
He was the guy that made ETH from scratch.
Second, it's the cryptocurrency of choice for creating dApps.
Ethereum 2.0 should be a big improvement that allows it to handle far greater numbers of transactions with much less energy usage.
It’s relevant in terms of volume and market cap meaning there is a minimal chance this will be a fly-by-night type of phenomenon.
After Bitcoin, ETH has been the most popular asset for institutions to pour their capital into because of the reasons I just said.
Access to ETH is also top-notch — available for purchase at most cryptocurrency exchanges. It's not hard to buy, unlike many irrelevant coins.
ETH prices continue to fight through the negative China news, but SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has reiterated his support for its regulation of crypto instead of the demise of it.
It has been rangebound from $1,750 to $4,000 highlighting the volatile nature of the asset.
It has settled around $3,000 today and I do believe it is setting up for a strong finish to 2021.
Ultimately, I do see ETH prices trending back to the $4,000 mark by the end of 2021 and next year should be ripe for a move past $5,000.
