Money Reimagined: Ethereum’s Renaissance Creates an Opportunity – And a Major Test Michael J. Casey in Coindesk
If, in the compressed time of blockchain existence, the “crypto winter” of 2018-2019 was Ethereum’s Dark Ages, then we’re now in its Renaissance.
But it’s an open question whether the blockchain platform and its enthusiastic community can take the wider world into the next era: the decentralized equivalent of the industrial revolution.
As Ethereum prepares to celebrate the five-year anniversary of its mainnet launch on July 31, billions of dollars in value rest on that question. Specifically, on whether the all-important Ethereum 2.0 scaling project can be successfully launched and integrated into its existing architecture.
By most measures, the Ethereum ecosystem is undergoing an impressive growth spurt. Record-breaking “gas” usage for smart contract and payment executions has now put Ethereum’s daily transaction fees totals above those of bitcoin. A strong rally in the price of ether (ETH) means Ethereum’s native token is among just a few leading cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, Cardano’s ADA and Stellar’s XLM, to have more or less shaken off the sharp crypto selloff seen in March. And the amount of second-tier value locked into Ethereum smart contracts is ballooning, with total daily value transfers on Ethereum reaching that of Bitcoin in April. ... "
