Ether is King of Cryptocurrency — For Now

 

Ether’s Rise

Bitcoin has achieved record highs this year: currently, it’s worth almost three times  as much as it was for most of January. Even so, Ether’s success this  year is eclipsing Bitcoin’s, given that Ether has risen an unbelievable 4,500 percent in 2017. When we rang in the new year, Ether was worth only around 5 percent as much as Bitcoin, but as of this week, The New York Times reports  that “outstanding units of the Ether currency were worth around $34  billion. . .82 percent as much as all the Bitcoin in existence.” 

Ether is now backed by not only the usual tekkies, but major  corporations such as Accenture, Microsoft, Toyota, Intel, and JPMorgan  Chase. These companies are becoming part of Ethereum’s planned global computing network (which  will require Ether to use) on the ground floor. Furthermore, Ethereum  is gaining traction among cryptocurrency users, with 94 percent feeling  positive about the Bitcoin alternative. Only 49 percent report feeling  positive about Bitcoin, according to CoinDesk‘s report  on a recent survey. Recent trends seem to indicate Ethereum’s value  will surpass Bitcoin’s soon — an event cryptocurrency enthusiasts have  termed “the flippening.” Ethereum and Bitcoin share many important qualities. Both are  maintained and hosted by volunteers all over the world, and tracked by a  network of computers, rather than a company or government. Private  exchanges establish the prices of both, and people can buy and sell them  at market rates or trade them.However, Ethereum was created to do far  more than work like digital currency. The Ethereum computer network can  also run computer programs and do computational work; functions  otherwise known as decentralized applications, or Dapps.  This has attracted a massive community of programmers who all  contribute their labor to improving the software. In turn, companies  have started using the Ethereum network as a base for other programs.  JPMorgan Chase, for example, is creating a monitoring system for  trading. Some corporate Ethereum users are creating their own Ether  currency-free versions of the software, although many observers believe that these software programs will eventually be connected to the Ethereum network. 

The Realities Of Cryptocurrency

The rapid boom of both Ethereum and Bitcoin showcase not only the massive potential of blockchain  technology, but the volatility of the cryptocurrency world. The Bitcoin  community has, at times, been plagued by technical issues and struggles  with hackers demanding ransom, and illicit activity like online drug  sales. Ethereum has problems, too — like the DAO heist  in 2016. However, challenges like these are not unexpected in totally  new systems, and both Bitcoin and Ethereum have been robust enough to  recover well. NYT reports that their combined value is now “worth  more than the market value of PayPal and is approaching the size of  Goldman Sachs.” The idea that companies and individuals will choose to use the  computing capabilities of the Ethereum network, as well as the currency,  is still speculative. More conservative investors want to see extensive  evidence before they make this kind of choice, and right now they don’t  have that much to go on. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s choice to use retail acceptance of its currency  as an entry into mainstream commerce through companies like Expedia and  Overstock.com is less risky. Even still, that strategy does run the risk  of less savory “retailers” — like drug traffickers. blockchain technology, the basis for the software, is clearly secure, but Ethereum’s strategy may prove more successful over time.