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Aussie Crypto Founder says Ethereum Poised for Exciting 2024
- Kain Warwick says in 2023 Ethereum focused on hard work and development without major catalysts and successfully implementing its long-term plans.
- ETH could outperform Bitcoin in 2024 due to its dominance in areas like NFTs and DeFi, improved transaction speeds, and reduced fees, although it faces competition.
- Despite lagging in media and investor attention, Ethereum has experienced consolidation within its ecosystem, particularly in Layer-2 scaling.
- Warwick suggests that Ethereum’s superior technology, engineering talent, and platform dominance make it the preferred choice for institutions exploring crypto.
Ethereum’s Narrative in 2023
Australian crypto entrepreneur and founder of derivatives liquidity protocol Synthetix, Kain Warwick spoke to CNBC Crypto World about his views on the number two crypto and what 2023 was like for Ethereum. For the past year, Warwick said, Ethereum has not really experienced any major catalysts, saying that the focus was on hard work and development, setting itself up for a strong performance going forward.
Ethereum has done everything that it said that it would over the last three, four, five years. Proof of stake has happened. Layer-2s are happening. Everything is kind of set up for Ethereum to really dominate.
Kain Warwick JPMorgan: Ethereum to Outperform Bitcoin in 2024
The discussion shifted to a recent JPMorgan report which had ETH outperform BTC based on some key metrics, including reduced transaction fees and increased network speed. Australian entrepreneur Warwick stated that ETH has dominated many narratives, including NFTs and DeFi while maintaining its position as number two crypto for several years.
He believes that profit shifting from Ethereum’s dominance, which usually went from BTC into ETH, now goes into Solana and layer-2 solutions. He believes this to be based on the better opportunity for growth in more risk on assets, making ETH a “victim of its own success.”
Will Ethereum Succumb to Its Competition?
With Bitcoin being on everyone’s radar due to the halving coming up and ETF applications dominating the daily news cycle, Ethereum is lagging behind in media and investor attention. However, Warwick also believes there has been a consolidation around Ethereum.
It has been this slow growth. What has happened though over the last year is there has been this consolidation around the Ethereum ecosystem in terms of the Layer-2 scaling. That Ethereum road map of Ethereum mainnet as the data layer and all of these other execution layers in the form of Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism and so on.
Kain Warwick Warwick said it sends a powerful message when big players like Coinbase use Ethereum for their own developments and explorations – think Base.
But he also acknowledged that the position as the leading smart contract platform is not guaranteed to last forever.
Solana is this fast follower platform that will likely take a lot of attention and have a lot of activity happening in that ecosystem.
Kain Warwick Institutional Interest: Ethereum Crypto’s IBM?
When it comes to institutional adoption three key factors make Ethereum particularly appealing to businesses, according to Warwick: the best tech, the best engineers and the dominant platform, making Ethereum an obvious choice for any company dipping their toes into crypto.
It’s just going to be constant adoption. It is by far the dominant platform and you know it’s the dominant platform for a reason. And so, I think that as an institution looking to do things with smart contracts, Ethereum’s the obvious choice.
Kain Warwick While Warwick believes that Solana and other newcomers may be able to challenge Ethereum, he said it is very much “Ethereum’s game to lose.”
Author
Aaron Feuerstein
Aaron Feuerstein is a freelance writer based in Melbourne. His focus is on decentralised finance and the regulatory space surrounding blockchain. He holds a Master's in Accounting. When he is not studying the latest legal case, he enjoys his time as a modest but eager hobby cook.
