Ethereum Acceptance | What Does It Mean For ETH/USD? [2019] | Cryptohopper

Ethereum Grows In Acceptance - What Does It Mean For ETH/USD? - Opinion Piece

The cryptocurrency market has been dominated by a handful of cryptocurrencies for the last 2 - 3 years. Among them, Ethereum, currently ranked number 2, has long challenged the unrivaled dominance Bitcoin has over the broader cryptomarket. The value of Ethereum has been largely realized in the year 2017 when the ETH to USD price rose over 8500 percent - a landmark achievement for any token of that kind. Much of it has to come from the degree of acceptance Ethereum enjoyed in 2017, and in an even greater degree in 2018.

Formally launched in 2015, Ethereum presents itself as a decentralized platform for software and dApp development, allowing developers to create their own smart contracts and dApps on the network.

In layman’s terms, Ethereum is thus not only a platform but also acts as a programming language running on a highly secure blockchain network.

>Potential Factors Contributing towards Global Ethereum Acceptance

Even though Bitcoin still claims the number one spot in terms of market capitalization, the Bitcoin craze is certainly experiencing a downward trend, especially in the last 2 years.

Perhaps the most eye-catching development to occur in the cryptocurrency world was the growth of Ethereum use-cases in the last couple of years. Many important events acted as factors behind Ethereum’s acceptance, including the formation of the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance (EEA).

The project aims at developing customized versions of software for big industry players and start-ups alike.

Factors behind Ethereum’s Global Acceptance

• An ever-expanding network: As mentioned earlier, Ethereum is a platform for dApp development. Currently, there are an abundance of ICOs and blockchain-related projects that have the potential to take off, which would not have been otherwise possible through traditional means.

  This, in turn, results in a greater degree of adoption of the Ethereum network. ICONOMI, Status and TrueFlip are some of the successful Ethereum-based projects in recent times.

• Introduction of Casper: Like the majority of cryptocurrencies, Ethereum’s transaction verification process was based on a Proof-of-Work protocol.

  However, the system has several problems, such as a high-electricity consumption rate, susceptibility to 51% attacks along with a slower verification speed. The landscape changed when Ethereum’s new protocol titled “Casper” was introduced.

  Casper solves most of the inherent problems of the Ethereum’s PoW protocol, including scaling, energy efficiency, economic security and achieves a higher degree of decentralization.

• Global Enterprise Alliance: As mentioned earlier, the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance connects big industry players to the Ethereum network. The alliance is tasked with introducing application based solutions to its partners for the better use of the Ethereum network. With major players like JP Morgan, Microsoft, Credit Suisse and Intel, the expansion of the alliance would directly result in Ethereum’s global influence.

Influence of Ethereum Adoption on ETH/USD Trading Pair

The success of any сryptocurrency depends on a variety of factors, with the volume of trading done on exchanges worldwide being a prime element. This can only be achieved if a particular cryptocurrency grows in acceptance and usage by the general public.

The most common form of crypto to fiat trading involves the U.S. dollar, which has become one of the primary indicators of a token’s value. This is more apparent when we look at the value of the ETH/USD trading pair’s volume, which almost parallels Ethereum’s rise to power.

Important ETH/USD Milestones

• Saturday, 08 August 2015: highest daily close for the ETH/USD pair - $ 3.00;

• Friday, 28 August 2015: highest USD daily volume for the ETH/USD pair - $26,922.13;

• 13 June 2016 to 19 June 2016: highest USD weekly volume for the ETH/USD pair was $ 99,750,888.43;

• 01 December 2017 to 31 December 2017: highest USD monthly volume for the ETH/USD pair was $ 16,709,063,189.66;

• 01 January 2018 to 31 January 2018: ETH/USD pair had the highest USD monthly volume - $ 24,698,405,075.59.

As evidenced by the above set of information, the Ethereum-USD trading pair has been expanding in volume almost parallel to the success of Ethereum in terms of adaptability. While the technology behind Ethereum is increasingly being embraced by various industries and sectors, the cryptocurrency’s value has experienced a sharp decline, mostly due to the overall slump of the crypto market at the beginning of the year.

At the time of writing, i.e., 04/07/2018, Ethereum is priced at $466.92 with a daily trading volume of $1,632,460,000 USD. It has also amassed a total market cap of $46,914,015,261 USD.

Currently, Ethereum is one of the most heavily traded cryptocurrencies on the planet, both in terms of popularity and global reach. Till date, it has 400 trading pairs active and is spread among a large number of cryptocurrency exchanges across many nations.

Out of them, the ETH/USD pair is available in 17 exchanges, with the most popular being Coinbase Pro (previously GDAX), Kraken, Gemini, Bitstamp, CEX.IO, Bitfinex.

Final Thoughts

While it’s still impossible for an analyst to predict the trajectory of Ethereum in the coming months, due to a number of variables present, there is no denying that the success of Ethereum’s underlying technology has definitely influenced its value.

Many crypto-analysts have cited figures as high as $2,500 to be Ethereum’s value at the end of the year, with Ethereum’s value slated to explode by the year 2020.

Much of Ethereum’s acceptance can be attributed to its underlying capabilities of providing decentralized processing power as well as bandwidth, which makes it stand out from the rest. Currently, Ethereum is being used by a diverse class of businesses and organizations, from small-scale merchants to industry heavyweights such as MasterCard, Samsung SDS, Brave Browser, Swiss Banks, Toyota, and Intel.

Thus, even though Ethereum has a long way to go in terms of acceptance compared to Bitcoin, its smart contracts technology and scaling power will attract many institutional partners in the long run.

This article was written by guest writer - Mary Ann Callahan

Be advised: guest articles may contain views, thoughts, and opinions that belong soley to the author and have no affiliation to Cryptohopper. If you are an author interested in cryptowriting, and would like to share any perspective through the Cryptohopper blog, please get in touch though our support system.