Ethereum came out in 2015 as a blockchain platform that would be more flexible than Bitcoin's, which was limited to only financial transactions. Read more to find out why you should invest in Ethereum and how Ethereum became the pioneer for blockchain-based smart contracts.
It was created by Vitalik Buterin, a Russian programmer, who took the blockchain idea from Bitcoin and applied it to smart contracts. They are smart because they run exactly as programmed without any possibility of fraud or third-party interference. If you had made an Ethereum investment back in 2015, you would have had +16,140% yield today. Given such growth, should you consider investing in ETH long term? And where does this growth come from?
In simple words, you can create contracts that no one can break or divert from. Sounds lovely for lawyers, right? Yes, but law is not the only beneficiary. Supply chain is the second field because there you can track shipments, make payments easily, and check quality. No wonder Maersk, one of the biggest container shipping companies, was pioneering to implement blockchain for their shipments.
Moreover, the Ethereum platform enables developers to build tokens and decentralized applications (dApps). The community has created a variety of dApps in various categories including games, social media, lending, and others.
Thus, Ethereum has an intrinsic value as a crypto currency and that’s why many people invest in ETH.
In 2016, a hack exploited a flaw in a smart contract on the Ethereum network, resulting in the loss of over $50 million worth of ETH. This led to a hard fork of the Ethereum blockchain, which created Ethereum Classic (ETC). But ETC hasn’t repeated the success of the older brother and there are more people who invest in Ethereum now.
Ethereum's popularity has grown exponentially in recent years largely due to its innovative technology and opportunities it gives to developers. What differentiates ETH from Bitcoin is limitless mining. Most cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, have limits on the number of coins in circulation. Ethereum is free from these restrictions, however, no more than 18 million coins can be mined annually.
Despite the cryptowinter that is happening on the markets, there are reasons why you still should invest in Ethereum today. One of them is the rapid growth of the ecosystem. More companies, such as JP Morgan and central banks, such as in Japan or Argentina have noticed the advantages of Ethereum and are thinking about ways to implement it.
As the leading platform for dApps, Ethereum has great potential to continue disrupting traditional centralized businesses and organizations. Therefore, some Ethereum investment would be a great addition to your portfolio.
To help you with the question, ‘Where can I invest in Ethereum?’ consider checking whether your broker has such opportunities or go to the biggest crypto exchanges, such as Coinbase, Binance and FTX.
Don’t forget that crypto is very volatile and the best way to invest in Ethereum and other coins is consecutive buys. Fractional investing allows you to buy crypto for any amount of money, so you should start with buying small amounts and build your position over time by systematically buying more.
