Cryptocurrencies are the new hype, that much is clear. In the last few years the new currencies became more and more popular and especially last year the interest of the people rose a lot. Since Elon Musk and Tesla started to publicly support Bitcoin, the digital currency and its smaller siblings have started to increase in value and popularity. Not only Tesla started to accept the coins as a payment option. More and more companies started to follow and now there are even bars in which you can pay with the digital coins.
As many know already, the last year has been pretty turbulent for cryptocurrencies. After the support of Tesla the coins increased in value immensely and many people, who had invested in the right time, got a big smile on their faces.
Alternatives to the giant Bitcoin, which are known as Altcoins, also moved into the focus of investors and companies which are interested in using cryptocurrencies. Many branches of the market have reacted quickly. Online gambling providers such as Ethereum Casinos have been popping up everywhere, accepting the alternative cryptocurrency and preferring it over Bitcoin. The gambling and gaming industry is not an exception as it is known to follow technological development closely.
Bitcoin’s leadership starts to crumble
Now though Tesla withdrew its support of Bitcoin due to concerns about the impact the mining process of the coin has on the environment and its sustainability in general. This has impacted Bitcoin in a rather bad way and the currency dropped by more than 40 % overnight leaving many investors in a desperate position. However the allegations have also led to increased interest in alternative options.
The industry is shifting its focus not without a reason. Ethereum has many advantages compared to the big brother Bitcoin. But what exactly are the reasons for Ethereum deserving more attention? We have brought together the most important facts about Ethereum that you need to know!
Better technology?
The first reason why you should give more attention to Ethereum is that it is simply based on a very advanced technology which is better than most of the others. The Ethereum coin is a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality.
The main point of interest about Ethereum is that it is not only a digital currency like all the other coins, but more of a platform with many different aspects, that is based on blockchain. The code Ethereeum is based on is known as turing-complete, which basically means that the code can run any different program that can solve complex mathematics. The system of Ethereum is able to solve extremely complex computational equations in a very short time.
Furthermore, Ethereum offers something called The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) which is a smart contract that uses Ethereum’s currency Ether for peer-to-peer contracts. If you want to be part of Ethereum you will be given a personal Ethereum wallet, in which your crypot assets are stored. The walled can store different cryptocurrencies at the same time and allows you to create and use smart contracts.
Ethereum is fast and secure
While concerns have been rosen about the security of certain cryptocurrencies, Ethereum is known to be one of the safest. As the coin is completely based on a decentralized system, it is incredibly difficult to follow the transactions. This makes it very safe against fraud and censorship.
As the blockchain technology of Ethereum is so advanced, the transactions are recorded much faster than with Bitcoin. We are talking literally about seconds rather than minutes. All of this is possible because of the smart contracts that we have mentioned earlier. This amazing technology helped to provide greater security, faster transactions and lower costs.
Efficient number of applications
To prove membership or represent your virtual shares or assets one can use digital tokens. Ethereum allows the creation and use of those tokens which can be extremely helpful in many ways. The tokens can be used for diverse purposes such as representation of shares, fundraising or voting.
One can effectively choose between having an amount which is fluctuating and always in circulation or having a fixed amount of tokens that is predetermined by certain rules. As Ethereum’s blockchain is very fast and flexible, it attracts lots of companies and organisations that are looking for an efficient network of cryptocurrencies.
Usually transactions require an intermediary to be completed which increases the time of the transaction and its costs. Ethereum though made it to eliminate any third parties which makes it especially fast and cheap.
Ethereum is well established in the market
To be an efficient cryptocurrency that is a real alternative to fiat currencies it is not enough to be just fast and well structured. In the end the whole thing only works, if the coins are accepted by a large number of merchants. Fortunately Ethereum is not a small fish in the ocean anymore. After Bitcoin, Ethererum is the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and has already big influence.
Several Fortune 500 companies, newcomer start-ups and technology vendors teamed up and founded the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. This group is now the largest open source blockchain alliance in the entire world.
Obviously the main idea behind the project is to create a vast network that uses Ethereum as payment method and exchanges value via the digital coin. The participants of this network are not small fish either. Big global players like JP Morgan, Microsoft and ING are among the 180 members of the alliance.
And guess what, the number of members keeps on growing and gives experts reason to believe that Ethereum has great chances to survive in the future and to be able to push forward the movement towards a global digital monetary network that operates vast and secure and eventually replaces the old school fiat currencies out of the race.