Ask anyone who is into the crypto industry, and they’ll agree that Ethereum is doing a pretty great job. Vitalik Buterin managed to introduce a new promising invention on the basis of blockchain technology – smart contracts.

Now, all crypto enthusiasts claim that these contracts are something that separates Ethereum from other cryptocurrencies. However, it is not the only thing. In fact, it has so many unique characteristics that, as many expect, would help Ethereum overtake Bitcoin. Even though the Ethereum price has dropped recently, there are many reasons to believe it will get stronger and wider established.

Ethereum is not just a cryptocurrency

Ethereum does have a crypto unit of its own called Ether. However, Ethereum is mainly an open-source platform, primarily based on blockchain technology and targeted at developers who can use it to build decentralized apps.

It is different from Bitcoin because it focuses on applications instead of transactions. What about Ether then? Well, it is used on the network for fueling transactions and paying fees.

Why can Ethereum overtake Bitcoin?

There is a bit of misunderstanding when it comes to overtaking, as the paths of Ethereum and Bitcoin diverge and the two platforms become focused on separate areas. Instead of overtaking, let’s simply talk about why Ethereum is the next biggest technology miracle.

Ethereum Virtual Machine

Before Ethereum came to life and opened the eyes of many developers, blockchain technology was not really used to its full potential. The primary focus was peer-to-peer cryptocurrencies, but Ethereum changed the situation.

The core of the whole Ethereum project is actually the Ethereum Virtual Machine (or EVM), which is the basis of the network. EVM is so powerful that it lets every type of software run on it, regardless of the coding language that the software uses. It added a lot of efficiencies when it comes to creating decentralized apps, making the whole process a whole lot easier.

Decentralized Applications – DApps

Just like every other type of app, a DApp has some purpose that serves to its users. When you take that perspective into account, you can think of Bitcoin as a separate DApp that has a mission of providing peer-to-peer payment solutions.

But what is the difference between an ordinary app and a DApp? DApp is also made of code, but that code runs on the Ethereum blockchain-based network. It means that there is no individual or a single entity that controls it. In fact, everyone on the network is in charge, which matches the notion of decentralization.

The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance

When you look at it, our entire world is centralized. It means that there is always one governing body that can make all the difference. Ethereum provides a basis for creating the decentralized ecosystem for a whole new economy.

To achieve a large-scale adoption of the decentralized technology, the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance was launched. It is a non-profit organization that helps businesses and enterprises to learn about Ethereum and put it to the best use addressing industry-specific issues.

As the member base of the EEA grows, we can see the development of advanced enterprise solutions based on Ethereum, which will provide a whole new level of innovation to the business world. Rules and standards that we know could all become a part of the code and actually work based on smart contracts.

As of today, the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance has already managed to attract the biggest players in the financial and technology spheres. Among the members of the EEA are such whales as Intel, Microsoft, Accenture, and J.P. Morgan , to name but a few.

Other advantages of Ethereum

First of all, Ethereum is said to have a high immune system. It simply means that the technology used for it is secure and that no individual or the third party can make changes to the data that has already been written on the blockchain. Ethereum has proved so far that it is completely impossible to censor anything on the blockchain, which gives us the idea that the network is entirely corruption-free.

Smart contracts themselves opened the doors for various projects, and that is how ICOs were born. An ICO is a type of crowdfunding where investors buy tokens instead of shares (tokens can sometimes work as shares as well). As a matter of fact, this was one of the most revolutionary things that Ethereum brought to this world, however not without the downsides as many ICOs eventually failed . Still, it’s more of an issue related to the trustworthiness of the specific ICO projects rather than the Ethereum platform itself.

Conclusion

As you can see, Ethereum stands out from other cryptocurrencies. Apart from all other cryptos, this network has something much more ambitious in its core – to make the world decentralized. Of course, decentralization is not necessarily a good thing in all aspects of our lives, but it is undoubtedly going to help the humanity upgrade. Smart contracts are just one thing that this network offers. It has many other advantages which could create a firm basis for its success in the future.

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