Is Ethereum dying?
A Dinosaur Struggling in a Fast-Changing Crypto Jungle
Ethereum, once hailed as the king of smart contract platforms and the backbone of decentralized finance (DeFi), now faces increasing criticism and challenges in the evolving blockchain landscape. While it remains a major player, its dominance is slipping as competitors like Solana, Polygon, and Sui innovate and capitalize on Ethereum’s technological shortcomings. Here’s why Ethereum may be losing ground and why it feels like a dinosaur in a world of agile predators.
1. Scalability issues: Ethereum’s Long-standing problem
Ethereum’s inability to scale efficiently has been one of its biggest weaknesses. Despite the long-awaited upgrade to Ethereum 2.0, which transitioned the network to proof-of-stake (PoS), the fundamental issues of scalability persist. Transaction speeds are still slow, and gas fees remain high during periods of high demand.
Comparison:
• Solana: Offers lightning-fast transaction speeds (up to 65,000 TPS) with near-zero fees, making it far more attractive for developers building decentralized apps (dApps) and DeFi platforms.
• Polygon: Enhances Ethereum’s scalability with its layer-2 solution, but its growing ecosystem is starting to attract developers directly to its network, bypassing Ethereum entirely.
• Sui: A next-generation blockchain using the Move programming language, offering unparalleled speed and scalability with instant finality—something Ethereum simply can’t match.
2. High costs: gas fees are choking users
Ethereum’s infamous gas fees remain a critical bottleneck. While improvements with layer-2 solutions like Arbitrum and Optimism have alleviated some of the pain, these are patchwork fixes rather than fundamental solutions.
Comparison:
• Solana and Sui: Practically negligible transaction fees make these blockchains far more appealing for users and developers.
• Polygon: Leveraging sidechains, Polygon allows for cheaper and faster transactions, directly addressing the fee problem.
3. Centralization Concerns
The move to proof-of-stake was intended to decentralize Ethereum further, but critics argue it has made the network more centralized. A significant portion of Ethereum’s staking power lies with a few large validators, raising concerns about governance and security.
For sure, Ethereum is far from dead—it still holds a massive share of the DeFi and NFT markets. However, it must address its technological development to keep up.
Therefore, technological analysis makes zero sense to me in terms of ETH’s growth. How can we be sure of its growth when there are obvious reasons against it? Why should the price rise if there are no clear advantages?
What’s your take?
Ethereum, once hailed as the king of smart contract platforms and the backbone of decentralized finance (DeFi), now faces increasing criticism and challenges in the evolving blockchain landscape. While it remains a major player, its dominance is slipping as competitors like Solana, Polygon, and Sui innovate and capitalize on Ethereum’s technological shortcomings. Here’s why Ethereum may be losing ground and why it feels like a dinosaur in a world of agile predators.
1. Scalability issues: Ethereum’s Long-standing problem
Ethereum’s inability to scale efficiently has been one of its biggest weaknesses. Despite the long-awaited upgrade to Ethereum 2.0, which transitioned the network to proof-of-stake (PoS), the fundamental issues of scalability persist. Transaction speeds are still slow, and gas fees remain high during periods of high demand.
Comparison:
• Solana: Offers lightning-fast transaction speeds (up to 65,000 TPS) with near-zero fees, making it far more attractive for developers building decentralized apps (dApps) and DeFi platforms.
• Polygon: Enhances Ethereum’s scalability with its layer-2 solution, but its growing ecosystem is starting to attract developers directly to its network, bypassing Ethereum entirely.
• Sui: A next-generation blockchain using the Move programming language, offering unparalleled speed and scalability with instant finality—something Ethereum simply can’t match.
2. High costs: gas fees are choking users
Ethereum’s infamous gas fees remain a critical bottleneck. While improvements with layer-2 solutions like Arbitrum and Optimism have alleviated some of the pain, these are patchwork fixes rather than fundamental solutions.
Comparison:
• Solana and Sui: Practically negligible transaction fees make these blockchains far more appealing for users and developers.
• Polygon: Leveraging sidechains, Polygon allows for cheaper and faster transactions, directly addressing the fee problem.
3. Centralization Concerns
The move to proof-of-stake was intended to decentralize Ethereum further, but critics argue it has made the network more centralized. A significant portion of Ethereum’s staking power lies with a few large validators, raising concerns about governance and security.
For sure, Ethereum is far from dead—it still holds a massive share of the DeFi and NFT markets. However, it must address its technological development to keep up.
Therefore, technological analysis makes zero sense to me in terms of ETH’s growth. How can we be sure of its growth when there are obvious reasons against it? Why should the price rise if there are no clear advantages?
What’s your take?
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