There are probably a million times when people talk about a potential “Ethereum killers” or something that could replace or even overtake Ethereum.

Also Read: How does Solana compare to Ethereum from a technology perspective?

Then, as always, there might be someone who argues that Ethereum is unkillable. A couple years ago, this definitely applied. Do we still believe this?

An ever-changing landscape of Ethereum killer:

Remember that until recently, when people talked about “Ethereum killer,” they mainly meant EOS, ADA, TRX, NEO, etc.

Until recently, most of the competition was either underwhelming or in its infancy.

People began to repeat the phrase “there is no Ethereum killer”.

With the emergence of these new generation 3 chains, the landscape has changed drastically. You really can’t put EOS and Cosmos in the same conversation anymore. They’re at completely different level of capabilities.

Ethereum 2.0:

Ethereum is very much aware of the possibility of falling behind. Therefore, Ethereum 2.0 has been developed.

Even with its current issues, Ethereum benefits from being the first to take the smart contract market, and from having the largest number of projects running on its ecosystem.

Ethereum 2.0 is Ethereum’s answer to these gen 3 chains.

It is possible that Ethereum 2.0 will be the real Ethereum killer. 

As a result, the real question may be “when will Ethereum overtake Bitcoin?”.

The competition:

Let’s examine the issues. The Ethereum network lacks scalability, security, speed, power consumption, efficiency, and fees.

Is there any project that can do what Ethereum does: a decentralized platform for smart contracts, dapps, and a native blockchain that supports NFT, Dex, DeFi, etc.

Definitely. Another blockchain may be able to do this more effectively, or even better. Probably still too early in decentralization with not enough validators, but only currently behind in the number of dapps.

Will those blockchains be able to solve the problems Ethereum faces?

Yes. In the next generation of blockchains, many of these issues such as speed, fees, power use, etc. will be solved. As well as solving the trilemma: scalability, security, and decentralization.

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The numbers:

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It’s important to keep in mind that these numbers are constantly changing. They’ll be outdated by the time you read this, so you’ll still want to DYOR.

However, it gives a rough idea of where they stand relative to one another.

We were unable to put a number on security, but several of these projects have strong security.

It is decentralizing. Also, there are no real numbers. There are some projects like Binance and Solana that aren’t inherently geared towards decentralization, but most of the others are.

This chart shows only a small sample of these new Ethereum killer. More companies, like Casper Labs, Elrond, etc…do not yet have enough data, and are too new to be compared.

These numbers don’t tell the whole story, obviously. A number of other factors need to be considered.

As you see that chart, the better question is whether ETH 2.0 is going to be able to match those performance levels?

Will Ethereum become irrelevant in the next few years?

Nope.

ETH 2.0 still has first mover advantage and establishment, even if it doesn’t outperform gen 3 chains.

Vitalik and his team have a great deal of experience in this area and are industry leaders. They know what they’re doing, and they know what needs to be done.

Likewise, the market does not change its habits very often. The reason for buying ETC remains a mystery to me.

Conclusion:

In the sense of a coin killing off Ethereum out of relevance, there is no “Ethereum killer.” As long as Ethereum remains relevant, it won’t “die”, and it will have the chance to continue growing.

As a matter of fact, there are “Ethereum killer”, if you’re referring to cryptocurrencies that have outperformed Ethereum in technology.

It would be foolish to completely ignore those Ethereum killers. The Ethereum killers are already here. Technology has become too powerful to ignore.

In reading the underlying technology behind these new gen 3 projects, it becomes evident that there is a realistic possibility that some of these chains could become the real leaders, overtaking ETH, and even BTC. It won’t happen for a while, but it won’t be too far off. However, I think ETH will only be bumped down a few spots within the top 10, not killed. The company will remain a market leader for a very long time.

They should be called “Ethereum demoters”, not “Ethereum killers.”

We all have different preferences and needs, so almost every single person will have a different combination of devices, ISPs, etc. Apple phones, for example, are convenient and easy to use, while Android phones are more functional. The important thing is that for the most part, everything is interoperable regardless. We can just customize our own situations to suit our needs.

I’m sure you can see how this will relate to crypto already.

Interoperability and multichain are the future of crypto. Smart contract platforms will never be able to rule them all because developers simply have different needs at a fundamental level. It’s a beautiful thing that so many projects can coexist, as they offer radically different experiences and advantages. Due to its operation, SOL cannot reach the decentralisation levels of ETH, for example. ETH, however, operates in a way that can’t match the insane scalability of SOL. It doesn’t necessarily mean that one is better than the other, they are just different.

The term “Ethereum killer” is sometimes used to describe SOL, or their favorite chain. ETH does not have to be “killed” for your chain to succeed with its own user base and competitive advantages.A developer who is always moving things around isn’t sustainable/effective with ETH, so this type of person might prefer SOL. Developers might prefer the on-chain governance of tezos to ETH’s more centralised decision making. There are countless possibilities.

There is no reason to believe ETH will not continue to thrive, it definitely will, it just won’t be the only one. Crypto-nerds like me will appreciate how beautiful it will be to have a fully functional ecosystem of interoperable blockchains, each with their own unique advantages and experiences. Embrace growth of the crypto environment instead of tribalism and toxic competitive culture. Instead of trying to discredit everything that isn’t your favorite chain, discuss the differences and advantages. There is no such thing as “only one can win”, so let’s begin investing and working accordingly.