Ethereum: What will be the next four years?

On Tuesday (July 30), Ethereum celebrated its fourth birthday.

Four years ago, on July 30, 2015, the world's first universal blockchain platform was launched. The platform was named Ethereum, the first platform featuring Turing-complete virtual machines and native programming languages. A code that can deploy any algorithmic complexity.

Mariano Conti, head of smart contracts at the MakerDAO Foundation, said:

“Before the birth of Ethereum, developers had to design and write extremely complex software. Ethereum introduced a common programmable layer that abstracted the entire process, enabling developers to build decentralized applications by writing the core logic of the application. ""

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According to the latest data from investment firm Electric Capital, there are currently about 800 active developers on the Ethereum blockchain platform. Electric Capital founder Avichal Garg said:

“ This means that the scale of the experiment in the Ethereum ecosystem is larger than almost all other ecosystems .”

But now Ethereum is no longer the only universal blockchain in the world, and is no longer the most active blockchain in some indicators. The latest quarterly report from Dapp.com shows that although Ethereum is still the developer's first choice, other decentralized application platforms such as Tron and EOS have more active Dapp users than Ethereum.

This has led many industry observers to know what will happen to Ethereum in the next four years. In the face of increasing competition, can it still maintain its leading position as a general blockchain platform?

Eric Conner is the founder of the information site EthHub and a product researcher at blockchain startup Gnosis. Eric said:

“I think that four years later, Ethereum will solve the most difficult part of its ambitious goals, around the goals of PoS and scalability . By then, the network will be able to carry more users, we will start Beyond the use cases we see today."

PoS (Proof of Equity) and scalability are included in an ambitious upgrade called Ethereum 2.0, and the entire Ethereum community wants Ethereum to complete this upgrade goal in the next four years.

Anthony Sassano, head of marketing at Ethereum's startup company Set Protocol, said:

“ I believe that Ethereum will achieve the vision of the original 'World Computer' in the next four years , as Ethereum 2.0 will be realized. We will have mature expansion solutions (on all levels) and we will have appropriate Privacy solution."

The future of Ethereum as a currency

At the same time, some experts said that in the next few years, the problems that Ethereum still needs to solve are not only technical bottlenecks that limit transaction throughput and efficiency. Some others inside and outside the Ethereum community are artificial, and in the next four years, Ethereum must overcome the challenges associated with its currency identity .

Yaz Khoury, head of developer relations at Ethereum Classic Cooperative, said:

“(Ethereum) is still working on establishing its own currency identity. It is not so much a cryptocurrency as Ether Square is a Dapp market and network.”

In response, Ryan Sean Adams, founder of another cryptocurrency investment company called Mythos Capital, believes that Ethereum will establish its digital currency identity within four years. He said:

“After four years, it is clear that ETH will not be a functional cryptocurrency, but a currency, a programmable value store. Lending, trading, and savings will all become public agreements in the Ethereum economy.”

At the same time, DeFi (Decentralized Financial Applications) based on Ethereum continues to grow . Mariano Conti, head of smart contracts at the MakerDAO Foundation, said:

“I sincerely believe that even if Ethereum 2.0 is postponed, what we have now is enough to meet the demand for DeFi in the next three or four years. I expect more companies to use DAI to pay their employees' mobile wages… I also It is expected (worry) that the first large-scale DeFi hacking will happen soon, which will be worth noting."

What are the Ethereum investors talking about?

On the other hand, the major investors in Ethereum said they are not worried about how the platform will transform in the next few years. On the contrary, the progress made in the past four years of Ethereum has proved that it has consolidated the leading position of this technology.

Linda Xie, founder of Scalar Capital, said:

“Ethernet has made significant progress in making it easier for developers to build. Language, tools and infrastructure have all been improved. This work is still in progress and it is much easier to build applications now than in the early days. ”

Adams, founder of Mythos Capital, estimates that so far, nearly $15 billion worth of token assets have been generated on the Ethereum platform . Adams said that these assets will continue to be snowballed and will create greater value for the Ethereum platform in the coming years. He said:

“We also saw (in Ethereum) the first generation (DeFi) agreement, in the past 18 months, $500 million locked in loans and transaction agreements. These agreements will constitute the new open style of Ethereum. The banking layer of the financial system."

Pantera Capital is the oldest bitcoin investment company in the United States and has invested in more than 20 different Ethereum-based startups to date. The company's partner, Paul Veradittakit, said that in 2019 alone, it was (and will continue to be) an inspiring year for Ethereum. Veradittakit added:

“During the bull market, the Ethereum community has remained focused and remained confident during the cryptocurrency winter. This attention to construction has indeed paid off, and the Ethereum ecosystem has become healthier and richer. There are still many great The Ethereum project will be launched this year and it is very encouraging to witness these."

Author | Christine Kim

Compile | Summer

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