Today marks the tenth year of Ethereum.
In the past decade, Ethereum has become the asset with the highest investment return rate in the world, possibly without exception.
In this decade, Nvidia's market cap grew 150 times, Bitcoin's market cap grew 300 times, while Ethereum's market cap grew 3600 times, reaching 450 billion dollars. In just ten years, Ethereum has become one of the top thirty assets by market cap globally.
In the past decade, Ethereum has become one of the safest financial systems in the world.
In the past decade, up to one trillion dollars have circulated on Ethereum, with the annual trading volume of stablecoins on Ethereum reaching 20 trillion dollars. Besides stablecoins, Ethereum has decentralized exchanges (with daily trading volumes reaching tens of billions), staking systems (involving funds of tens of billions), lending protocols (tens of billions of dollars), derivatives (daily trading volumes of tens of billions), NFTs, etc. Moreover, the Ethereum mainnet itself has never experienced a single halt, outage, or theft.
Looking back over the past decade, at least three epoch-making products have emerged from Ethereum's ecosystem, just as Apple launched the Mac, iPhone, AirPods, and iPad, with Ethereum being the absolute market leader.
Stablecoins have an annual trading volume of 28 trillion dollars, with over 70% of transactions occurring in Ethereum; in 2016, Ethereum birthed the world's first DAO, and now over 90% of the largest DAOs by TVL (Total Value Locked) are in the Ethereum ecosystem; during the summer of DeFi in 2020, Ethereum was the only center, with a market share of 95%-99%; in 2021, when NFTs first broke out, Ethereum was the main battlefield, with an annual trading volume accounting for over 90%... while tokenization of US stocks, US Treasury bonds, RWA, AI Agent memes, etc. have only just begun.
So what about ten years later? Ethereum has already become one of the top 30 assets by market cap globally, surpassing famous companies like Meta, TSMC, Visa, and Mastercard. Is this its endpoint?
No, this may be the real starting point.
Just as when Apple's MAC computer broke through 10 million users in 1987, that was not the end, but the starting point of everything.
Now, Ethereum, with about 10 million monthly users, has officially entered its next decade.
Ethereum has 100 times the growth potential.
1. If Ethereum's TVL grows 100 times, it will only account for 2% of the global financial asset scale.
2. If Ethereum's user base grows 100 times, it will only reach 1 billion. Visa and Mastercard both have over 3 billion cards issued.
3. Like the Apple computer in 1987, Ethereum remains a gathering place for niche enthusiasts. In 1987, Mac series computer sales broke through 10 million units; as a global shared computer, by 2025, only about 10 million people (with 17 million weekly addresses) will be using Ethereum.
4. Ethereum, a financial system refined over ten years, has already seen one trillion dollars circulate within it. Among them, the annual trading volume of stablecoins on Ethereum reaches 20 trillion dollars.
5. The miracle of stablecoins is expected to be continuously replicated across various 'product lines' on Ethereum.
In 2016, the market cap of stablecoins was 1 million dollars, reaching 1 billion dollars in 2018, and reaching 100 billion dollars in 2021. A 1000-fold growth in two years, a 100-fold growth in four years, the miracle of stablecoins (USD tokenization) may also happen in US Treasury bond tokenization and US stock tokenization.
6. Ethereum is providing alternatives to all mainstream financial products. What financial companies can do, it can do; what financial companies cannot do, it can still do.
7. Ethereum is tokenizing almost all mainstream financial products.
Ethereum is tokenizing the US dollar (USD stablecoin), which is a $40 trillion market, currently reaching a scale of $300 billion; Ethereum is tokenizing US Treasury bonds, a $36 trillion market, currently reaching $7 billion; Ethereum is tokenizing US stocks, a $60 trillion market, which has just started, currently reaching $500 million... These could suddenly explode in a few years, increasing a hundredfold in a year, just like the explosion of the USD stablecoin market.
8. As a new global financial system, Ethereum still has at least 100 times the growth potential in financial markets. Ethereum's TVL is only $80 billion, while the global financial system has an asset scale of $400 trillion. Even if Ethereum grows 100 times, it would only account for 2% of the global financial asset scale.
9. Ethereum is not a 'substitute' for the global financial system; it is redefining what finance is. Just like the relationship between email and post. Postal services were once the primary means of communication in the world, and now the daily volume of emails exceeds the annual volume of postal mail.
10. Twenty years ago, no one believed that over 90% of human information would occur on the internet; now, few believe that in the future, 9% of human funds will flow through Ethereum.
Ethereum waits for each financial system's collapse.
1. Every crisis in the global financial system is an opportunity for Ethereum.
2. Ethereum is waiting for each collapse of the mainstream financial system. Such collapses happen almost every month, every year, and every cycle.
3. Economic crises, pandemics, wars, political turmoil, national bankruptcies, currency depreciation, geopolitical conflicts... In the global landscape of 195 countries, any major upheaval in a country is a breakdown of a part or link of the entire global financial system.
4. In the past 100 years, there have been at least 10 major financial crises globally; 8 large-scale pandemics with global impact; over 30 national bankruptcy events, with currency collapses and hyperinflation 'bankruptcies' occurring at least 10 times. In the past 50 years, around 15-20 large-scale wars with international influence have also occurred. All these events bring changes to the financial system and create new market demands for Ethereum.
5. Ethereum is the center of 'fringe finance'. Approximately 10 countries have been kicked out of the mainstream financial system, with up to 30-50 other marginalized countries. Their ordinary citizens need stable currencies, merchants need to trade across borders, and the middle class needs to buy quality stocks.
The mainstream financial system prohibits them, but Ethereum accepts them.
6. Duan Yongping repeatedly emphasizes: Do the right thing, and do things right. Ethereum continues to do what centralized institutions like countries, financial institutions, and internet companies cannot do. Doing decentralized things is the right thing to do.
7. Ethereum is providing a dimensionality reduction strike to Swift. Ethereum has become the largest value network globally outside of Swift. Ethereum clearly surpasses Swift in several important dimensions, including but not limited to: network neutrality, 24/7 availability, transaction fees, cross-border transaction speed, transparency, and the degree of automation in clearing assets. As important countries like the US begin to embrace Ethereum in compliance and regulation, in 30 years, Ethereum has the chance to replace Swift as the largest value network in the world.
8. Nearly 20 countries are sanctioned and restricted by Swift. Ethereum requires no permission, allowing any country or individual to trade here.
9. Athens and Sparta, Android and Apple, Ethereum and the global financial system... they are two sides of the same coin, and the absence of either is a flaw.
10. The success of Ethereum is highly probable. Mainstream financial systems will not collapse suddenly but will continuously deteriorate. Each collapse is beneficial to new financial systems, beneficial to Ethereum, and could be a great opportunity for Ethereum's rapid expansion.
Ethereum's moat.
1. Ethereum's moat. First: sufficiently neutral. It and Bitcoin are the only blockchains that are sufficiently decentralized and not under the control of any single country or organization; Second: sufficiently secure. The mainnet has operated for ten years, with a market cap of 45 billion dollars, without a single large-scale halt, outage, or theft; Third: a unique culture. DAO governance, early user airdrop mechanisms, transparent transactions, and a strong emphasis on ZK technology and privacy protection... The Ethereum ecosystem has formed a good culture, and good culture gives birth to good business models.
2. On July 30, 2015, Ethereum's mainnet officially went live. Over the past ten years, the Ethereum mainnet has not experienced a single halt, outage, or theft.
3. Ethereum is a public good. Air can be polluted, water can be prohibited, land can be expropriated, roads can be refused entry, and internet accounts can be banned... Before the emergence of Bitcoin and Ethereum, there were no truly universally accessible public goods, except for a few things like the sun and the moon.
4. Ethereum does not require permission for usage. Bitcoin is a currency shared by all humanity, while Ethereum is a supercomputer shared by all humanity. Anyone can deploy, run, validate, and use programs on the Ethereum network without relying on traditional servers or companies.
5. Ethereum is a decentralized financial system, a public good, digital oil, a supercomputer shared by all humanity, an immutable global ledger, the largest value network outside of Swift, a decentralized internet, and a network nation.
6. Ethereum is the absolute leader in the crypto world. In 2024, the annual trading volume of stablecoins will reach 28 trillion dollars, with 70% of transactions occurring in the Ethereum ecosystem; in 2021, when NFTs broke out, Ethereum was the main battlefield, and its annual trading volume accounted for over 90%; in the summer of DeFi in 2020, Ethereum was the only center, with a market share of 95%-99%, with almost all lending, trading, and stablecoin protocols operating within it.
7. Ethereum is the biggest challenger to the global financial system. It provides a financial system that allows for fair and secure trading without regulation. When a country is kicked out of the mainstream financial system, Ethereum is one of the best solutions. When a business and merchant want to engage in normal cross-border trading but cannot for various reasons, Ethereum provides a new financial system. When an individual cannot conveniently trade in foreign stock markets or foreign real estate, Ethereum provides a financial system that requires no regulation.
8. Ethereum is the source of innovation in the Crypto industry and the center of almost all large-scale blockchain applications. During the summer of DeFi in 2020, Ethereum was the only center, with a market share of 95%-99%, and almost all lending, trading, and stablecoin protocols operated on it; in 2021, when NFTs broke out, Ethereum was the main battlefield, and its trading volume accounted for over 90% for the entire year; in 2025, when stablecoins break out, the global annual trading volume of stablecoins will reach 28 trillion dollars, with over 70% of trading volume happening on Ethereum.
9. Competition ultimately boils down to time and who makes the fewest mistakes. And Ethereum is always the one that makes the fewest mistakes.
The Ethereum mainnet has been running for ten years without a large-scale halt or outage. Solana launched its mainnet in 2020 and has experienced over ten large-scale outages in five years, averaging 1-3 times a year, with multiple network restarts; Sui launched its mainnet in 2023 and has experienced two halts in two years.
10. In the AI industry, we cannot do without Nvidia; in the smartphone industry, we cannot do without Apple; in the Crypto industry, we cannot do without Ethereum.
Surpassing BTC is not impossible.
1. Bitcoin is merely a currency system, while Ethereum is not only a currency system but also a financial system, an internet system, and a supercomputer shared by all humanity.
2. Those who believe that Ethereum's value surpasses Bitcoin have never disappeared. Entrepreneurs like Mark Cuban (2021), Real Vision CEO Raoul (2023), and 1confirmation founder Nick Tomaino (May 2025) have publicly and clearly expressed this viewpoint at different times and places.
3. Cathie Wood is considered one of the celebrities most optimistic about Ethereum's future prospects. She believes that by 2032, Ethereum's price could reach $166,000, with a market cap of $20 trillion. Currently, Ethereum's market cap is $440 billion, which means Cathie Wood believes there is nearly 50 times room for Ethereum to grow.
4. Like Bitcoin, Ethereum is scarce. Currently, Ethereum's inflation rate is lower than that of BTC, gold, the US dollar, and the euro.
In 2024, Ethereum's inflation rate is -0.2% to 0.5%, BTC is 1.7% (it will drop to 0.85% after the 2028 halving, decreasing every four years), gold is 1.5% (the annual supply of gold grows by about 1.5% – 2%), the euro is 2.5%, and the dollar is 3.3%.
Some currencies have absurd inflation rates: Egyptian pound 28%, Iranian rial 31%, Turkish lira 58%, Argentine peso 250%, Zimbabwean dollar 560%.
5. At the onset of Bitcoin's first decade, it reached $3500. Ethereum's first decade reached $3800.
In Bitcoin's first decade, its market cap reached $62 billion; in Ethereum's first decade, its market cap reached $46 billion.
6. Ethereum has 'approached the Flippening (surpassing)' Bitcoin's market cap. In mid-2017, Ethereum's market cap even reached 80% of Bitcoin's; in mid-May 2021, Ethereum's market cap reached 48% of Bitcoin's market cap. Currently, Ethereum only occupies 20% of Bitcoin's market cap.
7. Without Bitcoin, the Crypto industry has no reason to exist; without Ethereum, the Crypto industry loses its reason to exist.
8. Between August 2015 and January 2016, Ethereum's price remained below $0.3. Now Ethereum is valued at $3900, with an increase of over 13,000 times. During this period, BTC's increase was only several hundred times.
9. Ethereum has unlocked two price growth engines: one is the US Ethereum spot ETF, and the other is the Ethereum strategic reserve institution. It is expected that in October this year, Ethereum will also launch a third growth engine - the Ethereum spot ETF supporting staking functionality. Once opened, participating ETH holders will receive an additional annual yield of about 3%.
10. In the next decade, when Ethereum becomes as ubiquitous as the internet, its user base will grow 100-fold, and the funds on Ethereum (TVL) will grow 100-fold.
Opportunities are here, assets will double! Follow Biao Ge and easily make big money.
Stay tuned: MDT, FTT.