What if Ethereum is Just an Evolutionary Stepping Stone?

Obligatory Disclaimer: I am NOT a financial advisor, and none of this advice should be taken without speaking to a qualified professional first. Further, do NOT invest more than you’re willing to lose, and do your own research first.

Every morning I browse the crypto headlines over a cup of coffee, and every morning I see the same old FUD:

“$22 Billion wiped out of crypto market overnight!”

or

“Over Half Of ICOs Die Within Four Months Of Token Sale!” (Ok, but…is anyone really surprised by this stat?)

Despite the fact that I’m nested pretty firmly in the “crypto-perma-bull” category of believers, I can’t help but thinking that, sooner or later, one of the “big dogs” is going to bite the dust.

Not too long ago I postulated that only three cryptocurrencies would survive the inevitable crypto crash (you know, the impending Armageddon that will accompany the “corn syrup droughts” and see hundreds of alts and perhaps a few of the larger coins zero out).

I received plenty of criticism over leaving Ethereum out of those three picks, but looking at the way this antsy bear market is treating Vitalik’s brainchild (ETH is -70% from January 13th, compared to Bitcoin’s -55%), I’m beginning to wonder if my hypothetical musings held more weight than I originally intended.

(Quick note: I have loved Ethereum since its inception. I made plenty of profit off of it, I love and use dApps like Cent, CryptoKitties, and Cipher Browser, and I’m still holding some.)

From my experience (which is admittedly non-technical), cryptocurrencies that succeed tend to either pursue the vision of decentralization religiously (Decred, for instance), or they directly oppose it (Ripple, for instance). Projects that aim to walk the line between the two, or find theirselves floundering somewhere in the middle are, or will soon be, in big trouble.

body[data-twttr-rendered="true"] {background-color: transparent;}.twitter-tweet {margin: auto !important;}

Decentralization = Distribution of Power and Control You can distribute your architecture across as many different layers and entities as you want, but if authority is concentrated in a single entity then the system is centralized.

 — @SarahJamieLewis

function notifyResize(height) {height = height ? height : document.documentElement.offsetHeight; var resized = false; if (window.donkey && donkey.resize) {donkey.resize(height); resized = true;}if (parent && parent._resizeIframe) {var obj = {iframe: window.frameElement, height: height}; parent._resizeIframe(obj); resized = true;}if (window.location && window.location.hash === "#amp=1" && window.parent && window.parent.postMessage) {window.parent.postMessage({sentinel: "amp", type: "embed-size", height: height}, "*");}if (window.webkit && window.webkit.messageHandlers && window.webkit.messageHandlers.resize) {window.webkit.messageHandlers.resize.postMessage(height); resized = true;}return resized;}twttr.events.bind('rendered', function (event) {notifyResize();}); twttr.events.bind('resize', function (event) {notifyResize();});if (parent && parent._resizeIframe) {var maxWidth = parseInt(window.frameElement.getAttribute("width")); if ( 500 < maxWidth) {window.frameElement.setAttribute("width", "500");}}

Whether or not Vitalik intended for Ethereum to be the cash-grab that ICOs became in 2017 doesn’t seem to matter — Ethereum was ground breaking in the cryptocurrency space and has allowed literally everyone in every possible sector to dabble in decentralization. But…what has that gotten us so far? One would hope more than just impending bureaucratic red tape.

It’s also no secret that Ethereum has had scaling trouble. You need look no further than the problems the Cryptokitties team encountered when they got popular, or the traffic jams encountered during larger ICOs (most of which are disappointingly stagnating or hacked or dead). While transaction times have gotten a good bit better, Ethereum still has yet to make the type of groundbreaking advancements we’ve seen in Bitcoin’s recent improvements.

We all know that the evolutionary timeline of any advancement, particularly technology, requires some natural selection. We all have dreams of crypto pushing society towards…Ready Player One dystopia?

Or…WALL-E dystopia?

Or…heaven forbid Jeff Bridge’s Tron…utopia?

Anyway, I’m aware a lot of people will find my skepticism disturbing. All I’m saying is: wake up, nerds. Ethereum may survive, but then again, it may not. Do good research, mitigate risk, stay informed, make smart crypto-decisions, stop just belly-aching on Twitter, and put your money where your mouth is.

P.S. If you think I’m crazy for thinking Ethereum could go down, let me know why in the comments. Have another “big dog token” you think will zero out? I’d love to hear about that too!

If you haven’t invested in Bitcoin yet and you want to join the movement, the easiest way to begin is with Coinbase. Get $10 of free Bitcoin when you use this link — it’s my referral link — and get started now!

If you’d like to start using an exchange instead of Coinbase, Binance is a great place to start. Sign up here!

What if Ethereum is Just an Evolutionary Stepping Stone? was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.