Since launching to great scepticism back in 2009, Bitcoin has gone on to become a sensation in the investment world, heralding the beginning of a new era of cryptocurrencies and sparking a flurry of copycat digital assets that continue to clamour for the top spot. Despite being initially dismissed by many of the world’s top investors and traders as nothing more than a passing fad, a small number of millennials saw something in it that most did not, and it was those early adopters of crypto investment that made huge gains when Bitcoin proved the masses wrong.
These overnight millionaires have served as inspiration not just for fledgling investors, but for complete amateurs, too – sparking a level of interest in trading never seen before amongst the younger generations. The number of those looking to get started in crypto investment climbed steadily ever since, and as Bitcoin continues to ascend to record highs, the past year has seen a more dramatic surge in the numbers than ever before.
This can partly be attributed to how much easier it is today to get started with crypto investing than it was back then. These days, there is an endless stream of easy-to-join trading platforms, apps and software like bitcoinprime.software that make it simpler than ever even for complete novices to get started, providing automated signals based on rigorous market analysis to help users to make the right moves.
Can Ethereum topple Bitcoin and become the leading cryptocurrency?
Of course, we’ve come a long way since Bitcoin first burst onto the scene, and now there is an ever-increasing number of alternative cryptocurrencies, or ‘altcoins’ that are also showing great promise. According to Nigel Green, CEO and founder of the esteemed DeVere financial advisory group, Ether – the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, which runs on the Ethereum blockchain – could now stand to outperform Bitcoin, having recently reached an all-time high of its own.
“Ethereum is outperforming Bitcoin, and can be expected to continue this trend for the rest of 2021,” he said earlier this month.
“Ether is up around 240 per cent this year, while Bitcoin is up less than 38 per cent. In fact, it has performed all other benchmark assets in the first half of this year.”
According to Green, two key factors are driving Ethereum’s recent run of success.
“First, Ether has a higher level of real-use potential as Ethereum, the platform on which it is the native cryptocurrency is the most in-demand development platform for smart contracts, thereby highlighting that network’s value not only as a platform for developers, but as a worldwide financial utility,” he says.
“Second, investor enthusiasm for the game-changing transition to ETH 2.0, which makes the Ethereum network considerably more scalable, sustainable and secure. These upgrades represent a major boost not just for Ethereum but for blockchain technology itself.”
“He continues: “Ethereum is more useful than Bitcoin and has tech advantages over its better-known rival.
“Ultimately, this will mean that its value will exceed that of Bitcoin – probably within five years.”
How will Bitcoin respond to Ethereum’s growing popularity?
Green’s predictions will certainly pique the interest of early investors of Ethereum, who have waited patiently over the past few years to see some movement worth getting excited about. But what does its recent success mean for Bitcoin? Thankfully, it still seems to be pegged for some excellent growth before the year end, and that could continue long into 2022.
“I remain confident that Bitcoin will hit, or even surpass, its mid-April all-time high of $65,000 by the end of 2021,” he says.
Green is one of the highest-profile, longest-standing crypto bulls, who just last month was quoted in the media as saying “crypto is the inevitable future”.
The bold predictions followed a live virtual event at which Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, and Ark Investment’s Cathie Wood all advocated for the digital assets and talked about their massive future potential.
“There will be peaks and troughs along the way of course, but Ethereum’s ascent to the top of the cryptoverse seems unstoppable,” concludes Green.
For crypto investors, it all sounds rather promising, but the historic market volatility of both Bitcoin and Ethereum should always be kept in mind. In the world of crypto, nothing is guaranteed – but with unprecedented growth seemingly on the cards for the rest of the year and beyond, there could be some exciting times ahead.
Disclaimer: Investing money carries risk, do so at your own risk and we advise people to never invest more money than they can afford to lose and to seek professional advice before doing so.
