Ethereum is a blockchain-based platform that enables the development of decentralized applications (DApps). It’s the second most valuable cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, and it’s currently trading at around $1200 per ETH. Ethereum has benefited from significant growth over the last few years, despite the recent crypto market crash in 2022.
What is Ethereum?
Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud, or third-party interference. These apps run on a custom-built blockchain, an enormously powerful shared global infrastructure that can move value around and represent the ownership of property. This enables developers to create markets, store registries of debts or promises, move funds in accordance with instructions given long in the past (like a will or a futures contract), and many other things that have not been invented yet, all without a middleman or counterparty risk.
Ethereum was proposed in late 2013 by Vitalik Buterin and has been live since July 2015; it has grown to become the second most valuable cryptocurrency after Bitcoin due to its unique technical capabilities, providing high transaction throughput capacity at a low cost per transaction when compared with Bitcoin, which has led to widespread adoption by major corporations.
What does the future hold for Ethereum?
The future looks bright for Ethereum, and there are many reasons to believe that it will continue its long-term growth trajectory. The benefit of owning Ethereum is that, as more people use it, there will be an increase in demand and, therefore, a rise in price. It’s also important to note that Ethereum is a platform for decentralized applications (DApps). These DApps are run on the blockchain using smart contracts and can be used by anyone with access to the internet.
Since its inception back in 2013, because it offers similar functionality through its smart contract capabilities, some have argued that ETH could go well above $20K if we see another bull market as we did during 2020/2021.
How High Can Ethereum Go?
While Ethereum has been around for years, it’s only recently become a mainstream investment. If you’re thinking about buying Ethereum, here are some things to keep in mind:
- Ethereum is the future of blockchain technology. A blockchain is a digital ledger that records transactions permanently and efficiently without requiring third-party verification. This makes it an ideal way to keep track of assets like money and property without the need for banks or government agencies.
- It’s an excellent investment for long-term growth potential. One of the reasons why people are investing in Ethereum right now is because they think it will be one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies by 2025—and beyond!
- It’s also easy to view all your accounts with just one application
Ethereum 2.0
Ethereum 2.0 is a new version of the Ethereum blockchain that will employ staking to validate transactions using a proof of stake consensus process.
The staking method in Ethereum 2.0 will replace the proof of work approach, in which cryptocurrency miners utilize powerful computers to fulfill difficult mathematical computations known as hashes. The mining procedure uses an increasing amount of power to verify Ethereum transactions before they are made available on the public blockchain.
According to Vitalik Buterin, if no complications arise, the merger to Ethereum 2.0 will most likely take place in August 2022.
The Ethereum 2.0 update will significantly rebuild the network and solve concerns like energy consumption, scalability, excessive gas prices, and network congestion.
The Future of Ethereum
The future of Ethereum is looking bright, but as with all cryptocurrencies, we can never be certain how high it will go in value. As we have seen with Bitcoin over the years, there are huge swings in value that can happen very quickly. At the same time, there is no doubt that blockchain technology will continue to benefit humanity by providing solutions to problems that have long plagued us.