ETH, the crypto of the Ethereum network and the biggest Layer-1 chain around, is expanding steadily – but is it increasing fast enough so that you can profit from an investment sooner and not in, say, 2095? It’s worth pondering because, as you may have seen so far if you’ve been around crypto, it has generated quite a bit of revenue for early adopters and those who bought the dip at the right time. Ethereum is, at the moment of writing, selling relatively cheaply if we consider that its highest price so far stands at $4,860, registered in November 2021 – and right now, you can buy one currency for around $3.091. It’s still a major market participant by market share and has touched almost every niche in the blockchain world, so keep up with the ETH price prediction if you know you want to break into crypto with a long-term perspective. However, it also pays to observe the many competitors that have emerged over time and tested Ethereum’s position, because the altcoin ecosystem is a truly impactful force in crypto.
A cumulus of factors should be considered to help determine whether you should invest in Ethereum right now and hope to strike it big, or sit on the fence a little longer and ponder upon whether you should enter crypto soon – or, why not, figure out if Ethereum’s the best choice you can make. And in the sections below, we aim to help you find your answer. Let’s give it a shot, shall we?
Ethereum will always have the first-mover plus
Smart contracts are widely accepted as one of the biggest breakthroughs in blockchain, and Ethereum, its progenitor, will always benefit from this position – even amid the emerging chains. If Bitcoin had kept several particular opcodes running, smart contracts could have theoretically been launched upon it. But Ethereum, created as an open platform particularly for decentralized solutions, managed to transform the concept from a theoretical possibility into a fully functioning ecosystem.
What are smart contracts in the first place
If you’re new to smart contracts, grasping their functionalities is easy. Smart contracts are basically self-executing programs living on blockchain that automatically approve and carry out actions when the entire set of pre-established conditions is met, eliminating the need for intermediaries, reducing the risk of human error, and enabling trustless interactions between users. They’re transparent, tamper-proof, and anyone can verify them, which makes them just the best solution for decentralized apps, DeFi protocols, NFT marketplaces, blockchain gaming, and many other innovations. Their reliability and automation are precisely why Ethereum’s ecosystem continues to thrive despite the increasing competition we’ve talked about.
As we speak, hundreds of companies are leveraging smart contracts, with the U.S. business landscape leading, followed by Singapore and China. Unilever and Walmart use smart contracts and blockchain to boost food supply tracking and ensure food safety, whereas big banks, such as Credit Suisse and UBS, experiment with these technologies to speed up trade settlements, cut operational costs, and minimize the need for intermediaries.
Solana, Avalanche, Cardano, and other competitors testing Ethereum
Ethereum remains the pioneer of smart contracts, the number of networks designed to support decentralized apps rises. Several high-performance Layer-1s have emerged over the past few years, aiming to address Ethereum’s long-standing scalability and transaction-cost challenges. Solana is one of its closest rivals, known for its ultra-fast throughput, low fees, and energy-efficient architecture. Its ability to process thousands of transactions per second has made it a go-to for on-chain trading, NFTs, and gaming, areas where users need as much speed as possible.
Avalanche is another notable opponent, and stands out through its modular approach and the provision of more chains optimized for different purposes. Its consensus mechanism enables near-instant finality, expediting transaction confirmation and making it attractive for DeFi platforms and enterprises seeking predictability in settlements. Other competitors like Cardano, Near Protocol, Aptos, and Ton continue to refine their ecosystems, too, meaning that Ethereum needs to evolve constantly to be able to keep its edge. Yet despite this growing field, Ethereum still benefits from peerless developer activity levels, ecosystem depth, and network effects, advantages that competitors may find difficult to replicate in the long run.
Ethereum’s roadmap: Why upgrades still matter
Despite increased competition, Ethereum continues to have a significant advantage thanks to its ongoing development roadmap. Looking back two years, the transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) during “The Merge” upgrade reduced Ethereum’s energy consumption by over 99% and paved the groundwork for future scaling. And that was just the beginning. Ethereum’s roadmap includes major upgrades such as Danksharding, data availability improvements, restaking infrastructure growth, and rollup expansion, all of which directly address two of the chain’s most criticized pain points: speed and fees.
Rollups like Optimism, StarkNet, Arbitrum, zkSync, Base, and more are already helping the network scale, processing transactions off-chain and maintaining Ethereum’s security. These host their own ecosystems and have attracted billions in TVL (total value locked) over time – and they all rely on Ethereum as settlement base.
Institutional adoption adds new layers of stability
There’s spiking interest among institutional investors in Ethereum – doubling, actually, if we take into consideration that ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs) held $13BN at the start of the year, and by October, they managed to rise to $26BN. The launch of Ethereum is one of the biggest milestones so far, having expanded its accessibility for investors and legitimized ETH as a long-term portfolio asset. With regulated financial products now offering exposure to ETH without requiring self-custody or direct crypto handling, more asset managers, hedge funds, and retirement planners are viewing the investment vehicle as a viable diversifier.
This institutional presence tends to bring deeper liquidity, reduced volatility over time, and greater confidence across the market.
Ethereum is no longer seen as a speculative niche asset but as an increasingly established part of the global financial system, and this is a merit it won’t lose anytime soon. However, to invest in it, you need to build solid knowledge of crypto, from what moves the market to external market influences.
Caroline is doing her graduation in IT from the University of South California but keens to work as a freelance blogger. She loves to write on the latest information about IoT, technology, and business. She has innovative ideas and shares her experience with her readers.
