Currently ranked next to Bitcoin in price, Ethereum is a cryptocurrency that challenges Bitcoin.
Several altcoins have come and gone, a lot of others are still in existence. Bitcoin however still remains the most popular and most valued cryptocurrency.
Recent challenges have emerged within the Bitcoin blockchain that has seen the efficiency of transaction drop by some reasonable ratio. The concern for users of Bitcoin may not be limited to the drop in efficiency, but to the protocol involved in resolving the ongoing challenges as developers seek a consensus.
Ethereum which utilizes a different protocol, has performed impressively and become very popular among the other cryptocurrencies.
It has several attractive attributes and growing awareness within the crypto-ecosystem. But can it de-throne Bitcoin?
Block size changing mechanism
Roman Mandeleil, CEO & Founder at responded:
“Time will tell, and I think we are on the right track.”
He further explained that while in the Bitcoin world the size of the block is a constant value and to change it, you need a verbal agreement from the people and an active update of the software, in Ethereum’s world the miners vote on the blockchain increase (or decrease) in block size, and the mechanism is already there as the stakeholders keep adjusting the size from time to time.
Ethereum can challenge Bitcoin
The Co-founder at Cashila, Jani Valjavec gives it to Ethereum. In his words,
“The current phenomenon for Ethereum's rise of exposure is primarily because of the ongoing fights with no realistic solution in reasonable time frame in the Bitcoin camp. However, the 2nd part of Ethereum's rise (connected with price of course) is the upcoming release on Homestead (means Ethereum will be out of BETA on march 14th) and ongoing good news regarding ddaps built on top of Ethereum.”
He went on to say that Ethereum will establish a firmer position than Bitcoin. Identifying that it is a system on which not only tokens of value can be exchanged, but where decentralized applications are able to run and added that even Bitcoin could run on Ethereum. But not the other way around.
Aleksandar Matanovic is the CEO & founder of EC District. He recognised the initial momentum that has propelled Bitcoin very far and the amount of work any challenger shall have to do. He also identified the potential of Ethereum saying:
“Bitcoin had a huge first-mover advantage and probably no other cryptocurrency related project will ever create so much hype. However, it doesn't mean that no other altcoin will ever match Bitcoin in number of users or market cap. Ethereum still has a long way to go, but it does look like a strong candidate to challenge Bitcoin's domination in the realm of cryptocurrencies.”
It’s still a Bitcoin’s world
The Founder of Cryptopay, George Basiladze recognised the potential of Ethereum, but also identified its limits when placed side by side with Bitcoin. George commented:
“Ethereum would play a great role in the future in case the protocol would get more updates and would be more, let’s say more developer friendly. However, giving the amount of funds invested in bitcoin companies and especially in mining, I do not think that Etherium would beat bitcoins.”