Fuelled by Trump regulations and faster trading, Ethereum has surged ahead of rival Bitcoin in the ongoing crypto wars
For much of the brief history of cryptocurrency, two digital coins have competed for the top spot. Bitcoin had first-mover advantage, but for more sophisticated early adopters, the better long-term bet was Ethereum, designed by Vitalek Butarin, which went live 10 years ago this week.
Bitcoin, with its limit of seven transactions a minute, was cumbersome; Ethereum could be traded faster and more often, and more advanced blockchain technology made it “programmable money” that could be attached to “smart contracts”. Silicon Valley backers believed it could transform what money can do and drive the emergence of both decentralised finance (DeFi) and a revolutionary internet upgrade known as Web 3.
So far, Ethereum’s most notable use has been for selling digital art through non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The victory of the “Crypto President” stoked demand for rivals such as $Trump speculative meme coins and supposedly low-risk “stablecoins”.
Since Trump’s election, the price of Bitcoin has risen by over 70%, but by early April, Ethereum had plunged by 38%. Now, however, Bitcoin has slowed and Ethereum surged, perhaps because of Trump’s sweeping crypto regulations. It is now up nearly 60%. The battle to be king of crypto is still to be won.
Photograph by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto, Getty
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