With a market capitalization of more than $1 trillion, Bitcoin is arguable the biggest cryptocurrency that is. Because of the notable reputation of Bitcoin, many giant companies around the world are heavily investing in it and accepting it as a payment method. All these make it more convenient to conclude that Bitcoin’s supremacy is not going away any time soon.
Meanwhile, Ethereum, which is the second-largest cryptocurrency based on market capitalization, has advanced greatly over the past 12 months. Ether has rocketed 1,612% compared to Bitcoin’s 418% gain. The progress presently happening to Ethereum is not limited only to the value of the Ether cryptocurrency, but also other applications that can be developed on this blockchain.
So, there comes again the same debate that started in 2017 during the initial coin offering (ICO) bubble where various crypto market commentators claimed that the issue of Ethereum flipping Bitcoin is not a question of if but when. Although the flipping did not happen then, the debate has again resurfaced as the price of Ether rises – nearly triple so far this year.
But will Ethereum really flip Bitcoin any time soon? Let’s take a look at some instances that can make this happen.
Elon Musk’s Tweets
Source: theverge.com
The past few weeks have not been a good one for the crypto space as Bitcoin’s price crashed beyond expectations. Elon Musk is believed to be largely responsible for the crashing of Bitcoin’s price by $12k when he tweeted that Tesla will no longer be accepting Bitcoin. He claimed the decision was based on an environmental concern as Bitcoin mining consumes high levels of energy.
Even though miners use renewable sources of energy most of the time, which makes Bitcoin mining less an ecological problem, Musk’s tweet caused a lot of damage to Bitcoin and many other altcoins with onle a few exceptions.
Ethereum Has More Use Cases than Bitcoin
This is even one of the motivations behind the creation of Ethereum – to create a network that does more than just enabling peer-to-peer transactions. While Bitcoin is used only as a payment method or a way to store wealth, Ethereum, in addition to enabling peer-to-peer transactions, it also allows other applications to be built on the network.
Ethereum is able to host thousands of blockchain-based solutions, including most decentralized apps (Dapps). That is one thing you can’t get with Bitcoin blockchain. Therefore, we can simply put it that Ethereum expands the use of blockchain from simple value transfer (like Bitcoin) to more complex use cases.
Smart Contracts
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Smart contracts is one of the features that set Ethereum apart from several other cryptocurrencies. Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum enables the creation of smart contracts on the network. A smart contract is a form of agreement between two people in the form of computer code. It can help exchange money, property, shares, or anything valuable in a transparent, conflict-free, and peer-to-peer way to avoid needing the service of a middleman.
With smart contracts, everyone can enjoy the autonomy they deserve in their transactions. There is no more need for a third-party intermediary or facilitator, essentially giving you full control of the agreement. That also helps save some money that would have gone to middlemen in form of fees. It also enhances efficiency with transactions. Smart contracts is not present on Bitcoin’s blockchain. And with more people getting to understand the importance of this feature, there may be more people on the Ethereum network soon.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
Ehthereum’s versatility has earned it the nickname ‘world computer’ because of its potential to decentralize the whole internet and transform the way we transfer everything, from online data to the property deeds of a house.
An excellent example of this development is the recent trend of non-fungible tokens, where digital artwork is sold, transferred, and stored on the blockchain, which is largely powered by Ethereum. This is a great function within the Ethereum network that contributes well to the considerable price gain of Ethereum in recent months.
Proof-of-Stake
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Ethereum will be launching its new upgrade soon, which it calls Ethereum 2.0. The major feature of the upgrade will be the transitioning of Ethereum from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism. Like many other cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin uses PoW consensus mechanism to validate blocks being added to the Bitcoin blockchain. This, however, relies on costly and sophisticated hardware and consumes a huge amount of electricity. Energy consumption has been a major concern with cryptocurrency mining.
However, when the new Ethereum upgrade is fully launched, anywhere in 2024, Ethereum will be finally transitioning to PoS. That means it would no longer need miners to validate blocks on the network. Instead, validators will stake a certain amount of Ether to participate in the process. That will come with improved scalability, security, and energy efficiency of the Ethereum network.
Will Ethereum Overtake Bitcoin?
With all these amazing and endless possibilities offered by Ether, one will quickly understand why analysts and investors predict that when it comes to Ethereum overtaking Bitcoin, it is not a question of if but when.
Bitcoin may be the fastest asset in history to get a total value of more than $1 trillion in just 12 years; with Ethereum presently valued at 38% of Bitcoin’s value (from only 19% last year), Ethereum may achieve the same mark in less than 8 years. So, if anyone is considering when is the best time to invest in Ethereum, now is the perfect time – and a platform like AnycoinDirect.eu is a good place to start!
