Perhaps you've heard the rumors: Ethereum is 'dead' or struggling. The price isn't as high as expected, and other blockchains are emerging. But the reality is quite different.
Ethereum is not dead and is not faltering. It is performing very well.
Negative talk only reflects the dramatic desires from the community, something Ethereum does not provide. Since its inception, Ethereum has always been the largest programmable blockchain and a leader globally. Nearly 10 years in operation, it remains the top choice for investors, banks, and startups in the crypto ecosystem.
The biggest misunderstanding likely stems from two different perspectives on Ethereum: one side sees it as a computing platform for the future of digital finance, while the other side hopes it serves as an ideal store of value asset, similar to Bitcoin. For the second group, Ethereum's low price compared to Bitcoin is a major disappointment.
However, for those who view Ethereum as a platform, the asset price is secondary. They see Ethereum has transformed significantly over the past few years.
Ethereum: From experiment to solid platform
Five years ago, #Ethereum seemed more like a successful experiment than a financial future. The network struggled to process over a million transactions a day, with exorbitant transaction fees (sometimes $50/transaction), and consumed a lot of energy due to the proof-of-work mechanism.
Today, the proof-of-work system has been replaced by proof-of-stake, reducing carbon emissions by 99%. Congestion issues are also a thing of the past. Ethereum can handle between 250-450 million transactions each year. More than 100 layer 2 scaling networks have been built on Ethereum, significantly reducing transaction fees to around $0.01 to $0.10.
Lower transaction fees mean that the 'yield' for those staking Ethereum also decreases, which frustrates some investors. But Ethereum is not Bitcoin. The strength of Ethereum has always been its role as a platform for building. This platform thrives thanks to a strong developer community and continuous upgrades.
Ethereum truly stands out in this regard. The network has operated for nearly a decade without interruption, implementing major upgrades every 6-8 months. No other blockchain has comparable reliability.
The future of Ethereum: Global financial infrastructure
The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has strategically invested in technology and especially resilience. Most of the core components of the network infrastructure have multiple independent providers, helping to avoid single points of failure. Over a million people are staking Ethereum and more than 10,000 network nodes are active. Ethereum's latest roadmap promises to significantly enhance capacity and performance in the coming years.
These points may not be exciting if you just want to make a quick profit from meme coins. But they are extremely important for banks, corporations, and governments that are rebuilding the financial infrastructure of the future. This group is slow but creates much greater long-term value. It's no surprise that over 85% of 'real' digital assets and over 50% of the value of stablecoins are on Ethereum.
The asset price of Ethereum may recover as demand increases to compensate for low transaction fees. Ethereum's valuation model will now be different. It is no longer digital gold swayed by geopolitical events, but the next network computing platform, driven by sustainable growth in transaction volume. If you adjust your perspective, Ethereum's development path becomes much clearer. #anhbacong