Ethereum, which is Bitcoin’s largest rival, stands poised to overtake Bitcoin as the largest cryptocurrency by market cap in an event financial experts are referring to as “The Flippening”. If you missed the Bitcoin train, Ethereum may just be the answer for you. Not just a currency but also a valuable tool in creating digital items such as NFTs using it’s ether, today we are going to take a look at the history of Ethereum and if it makes sense to toss some bills into for you, the investor.
What Is Ethereum?
To quote Wikipedia, who has such a succinct and blunt way of putting it,
Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality.
Ok, but what the fuck does that mean to the rest of us?
Let’s break it down.
Ethereum is decentralized.
By decentralization, they mean that the creation or minting of Ethereum is not conducted by a centralized government. That’s right. Not the United States, not India, not even our dear Chinese friends create or mint Ethereum. Ethereum is independent of any nation and is a global currency.
What this also means is that banks do not act as an intermediary or third party for exchange. Example: When you swipe your card at the gas station, the money does not go straight from your account into the gas station’s account. It first goes through a central bank i.e. the Federal Reserve. That’s one reason why charges appear as “pending” or it takes 3–5 business days to receive your refund when you exchange a product or get a refund for a service. With Ethereum, there is no third party interference.
Ethereum As An Open Source Blockchain
“Open Source” means that all records are public and accessible. That’s right, every trade or exchange of Ethereum that has been made goes onto a public ledger that anyone can access. That means no dark pool, no undercover trading, and little to no hedge fund fuckery without accountability.
Ethereum Possesses Smart Contract Functionality
Ok so smart contract functionality is a little more intricate than the other terms, but essentially it means (and this is a very beginner friendly definition) that Ethereum uses smart contracts to guarantee that certain contracts/agreements are executed immediately without having a third party to facilitate. Essentially, smart contract functionality is a way to guarantee and fiduciary trust to the consumer i.e. it allows Ethereum to conduct transactions without using the Federal Reserve and also not fuck you over.
Who Invented Ethereum?
Ethereum was the brain child of Vitalik Buterin and was dropped in 2013. Relying on crowdsourcing for startup capital, Ethereum went into full scale development in 2014 and became available to the public in 2015.
I do want to mention that Peter Thiel, who co-founded Paypal along with Elon Musk was responsible for additional funding that made Ethereum possible.
How Is Ethereum Different From Bitcoin?
Bitcoin acts as primarily a currency. That is the sole purpose of Bitcoin. Ethereum, on the other hand, has quantifiable functions and tasks much like a company you may find on the S&P 500, which was one of the primary goals of Buterin and the other founders of Ethereum if you look at their white papers.
Buterin, et. al. wanted to create an additional cryptocurrency that was not just an alternative money source but also had a purpose and could conduct tasks. Ethereum does just that through it’s facilitation of NFT creation, smart contracts, decentralized applications, and digital products.
Ethereum 2.0
Ethereum 2.0 is the planned upgrade that allows Ethereum to facilitate many more transactions than in the past. When I say many more, what I mean to say is a shit load more. Like tens of thousands of transactions per second. With Ethereum acting as the conduit for so many digital transactions, this upgrade will no doubt drive the price of Ethereum up but also the userability.
What is The Flippening?
The Flippening is the event that although predicted has a HIGH likelihood of happening. By high I mean like Snoop Dogg high. The Flippening is when the value per Ethereum is higher than the value per Bitcoin. At the time of writing, Ethereum is already the highest value coin in terms of US Dollar investment which is a key indicator that the beginnings of The Flippening are upon us.
Where Can I Buy Ethereum?
Ethereum is available for purchase/trade on most major crypto platforms. Two platforms that this writer uses personally are Coinbase.com and Crypto.com although there are far more than just those two.
Should You Invest In Ethereum?
I try very hard not to use absolutes in writing. In the case of Ethereum, I STRONGLY encourage you to explore Ethereum as an addition to your portfolio. Please do not miss out on this large growth opportunity especially if that is the target of your portfolio.
Sources/Additional Reading:
The Flippening: What Crypto Investors Should Know About ETH Overtaking BTC
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips There's talk that "the flippening" may be in the works…