Alexandra PankratyevaAgainst the overall crypto market’s decline in 2018, Ethereum’s popularity as one of the world’s leading cryptocurrencies is still growing. Today, Ethereum holds 2nd place in the list of the most powerful cryptos by market capitalisation.
Still the leader: why do investors buy Ethereum?
Currently valued at around $136, Ethereum’s future bothers our minds. When the Ethereum price graph looks rather volatile, everyone wants to know: what is ETH’s future? Is investing in Ethereum a good idea? What is the Ethereum price prediction for the coming years? Let’s find it out.
5 key facts about Ethereum
Ethereum was developed by young software engineer and cryptocurrency enthusiast Vitalik Buterin at the end of 2013 and was officially launched on 30 July 2015.
Ethereum is a blockchain-based, open-source crypto platform that enables distributed applications (DApps), smart contracts and trading of its native cryptocurrency – Ether.
Ethereum is made up of multiple languages, including C++, Go and Rust. It has developed its own programming language for smart contracts, which is called Solidity.
In 2016, Ethereum was forked into 2 separate blockchains, Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. In 2019 Ethereum survived another hard fork, called Constantinople, which was aimed to improve Ethereum’s blockchain performance.
Unlike Bitcoin or Litecoin, Ethereum doesn’t have a finite supply number. Instead, 18 million Ether could be generated per year. Currently, the Ethereum circulation has crossed 100 million mark with a total market cap of $68 billion.
Ethereum (ETH) price history
In terms of Ethereum’s historical price, the cryptocurrency hit its record high of $1,290 on 15 January 2018. The ETH reached its all-time low of $0.42 on 22 October 2015. According to the latest Ethereum price analysis, Ethereum is traded at $136 (as of 28 March 2019).
Over the years, Ethereum has become very popular. It attracted the attention of many banks as a test platform for the study of smart contracts. Today it is used by 82% of all ICO projects.
Despite 2018 being a difficult year for the cryptocurrency market in general and the fact that ETH fell by 93% from its highest level, the majority of experts share a rather positive view on Ethereum’s future. They believe the ETH price forecast will depend on the events, planned by the network developers for 2019.
Ethereum price chart
Ethereum price prediction for 2019-2020
There is one particular difference which makes Ethereum stand out from the crowd of other cryptocurrencies – its unique technology. Ethereum is not just a cryptocurrency, but a major platform for building decentralised apps (dApps). According to the statistics, Ethereum’s dApps have more than 10,000 active users, who perform 66,000 transactions on a daily basis.
With the majority of cryptocurrency projects, presupposing the use of smart contracts and tokens operating, the demand for the Ethereum technology is steadily growing. At the end of 2018, the number of Ethereum transactions reached its historical maximum — 115 million. Just for reference, in summer 2018 this number was below 50 million.
Speculating on Ethereum’s further development, most experts agree that the ETH price will go up, but with no signs of a huge price swing (from $10 up to $1,300) that happened in 2017.
As the result of the planned Constantinople hard fork, the Ethereum network has experienced several significant changes:
Move from Proof of Work (PoW) protocol to Proof of Stake (PoS) protocol.
This is aimed to make the ETH network cheaper to operate and faster. However, It might be controversial as it may lower the miners' reward from 3 ETH to 2 ETH.Increase the speed of payment transactions.
Reduce the cost of Gas (Ethereum’s auxiliary domestic currency).
Increase the complexity of the Ethereum network, which may entail the ETH price growth.
Cryptocurrencies are volatile. There will be peaks and valleys on the road, and Ethereum is no different. However, the one thing about Ethereum is certain – it has a strong fundamental basis and legitimately enjoys a reputation of the most advanced blockchain. If you’re looking for a relatively stable cryptocurrency to invest in, keep track of Ethereum.
*This article should not be construed as financial advice; it is purely market commentary.
