Ethereum’s Dark Days: Time to Invest in ETH?

The Ethereums price seems to be in a downward spiral. With crypto prices in decline everywhere, industry believers wonder if now might be a good time to buy Ethereum. Whatever the future holds, Ethereum has some major challenges ahead, and some investors are losing faith. We’ll try to understand what the future holds for Ethereum at this dark time in its history.

Ethereum’s First-to-Market Challenges

Like Bitcoin, Ethereum introduced a new innovation to the cryptocurrency industry. While Bitcoin BTC was digital cash the likes of which the world had never seen, Ethereum seemed ready to forever change the internet. Vitalik Buterin didn’t invent smart contracts, but his blockchain did popularise them. Also spendable as a currency, some thought Ethereum would take the throne from Bitcoin. But then Ethereum succumbed to some of Bitcoin’s biggest problems.

Bitcoin started getting very slow and expensive in 2017, mostly due to the new popularity that filled the network with international traffic. This is what Bitcoin was meant to be – a worldwide digital currency. And yet the technology couldn’t support actual widespread adoption. Though faster, the same happened to Ethereum around the same period.

In terms of transactions per second, the Ethereum blockchain is little faster than Bitcoin. Furthermore, younger blockchains have entered the space during Ethereum’s decline. Smart contract chains like NEO and EOS were designed from the ground up to be faster and cheaper than Ethereum, bound as it was by its earlier technology.

There are no quick solutions to Ethereum’s problems. Proof of Stake and Sharding are two long promised innovations that could modernize the Ethereum codebase. But no one knows when bold steps will be agreed upon, allowing Ethereum to vanquish its foes.

The Weight of Ethereum Market Sentiment

Vitalik Buterin expresses pessimism about the Ethereum blockchain – ETH Down 85% From ATH

At a recent speaking engagement in Hong Kong, Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin stunned the room by expressing naked discouragement about Ethereum and blockchain technology in general. Saying that established blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum “suck”, Buterin bemoaned a cryptocurrency industry built for investors, not meaningful technological innovation. Ethereum investors around the world felt the blow of these words.

Ether is down 85% from all time highs, in the midst of an industry wide bear market. So what does this mean for Ethereum? Should investors sell and investors avoid ETH?

Well… not so fast. Ethereum development is ongoing, and the project boasts the largest pool of blockchain talent of any project in the world. The Ethereum Enterprise Alliance is a list of real companies that use Ethereum technology, and the blockchain remains central to the cryptocurrency industry’s very structure.

We can’t tell you what the future holds for Ethereum’s price, whether it will stablise, rise, or fall. Perhaps, a change of perspective is necessary. Vitalik says that it may take years before Ethereum is an internationally useful blockchain, at least as its meant to be. In the meantime, Ethereum investors are urged to stop looking at the industry as a profit machine (one which mostly benefits the trades of millionaires rather than the everyday user).

The Ethereum price may not hit record highs in the near future, and new lows may be felt. But to call Ethereum finished is to misunderstand the situation, and its best days may yet be ahead.

*Information in this article should not be taken as investment advice.

Featured image source: Pixabay