Key facts:
The project is currently migrating its consensus type from PoW to PoS.
The metrics show growth in addresses, transactions, and hashrate.
During the last three years the Ethereum project has undergone a major evolution in multiple areas ranging from the usefulness of the network to the technological field. The smart contracts platform went in that period from being a system for Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) to being the home of decentralized finance (DeFi).
Amid the current upward trend in the cryptocurrency market, the network’s native crypto asset, ether (ETH), shows prices not seen in more than two years. The price has gradually surpassed the barrier of $ 500 and then the barrier of $ 600 per unit.
The renewed push for ETH caught the attention of Anthony Sassano, co-founder of Eth Hub, a resource center for researchers and developers on Ethereum. The entrepreneur shared on his blog and on Twitter a comparison of what the network was like when it first reached $ 500, on November 29, 2017, and what its current status is.
The table below shows that the project has grown in various areas that include: unique and active addresses, number of transactions made, commissions, network use, blocked funds, and number of active developers.
The table presented by Anthony Sassano shows how Ethereum has changed between 2017 and 2020 when the price of the cryptocurrency was $ 500. Source: Anthony Sassano / Twitter.
Impact of DeFi and stablecoins
For Sassano, the growth of Ethereum is defined by the impact that DeFi has had, which is causing the network to be used to its maximum capacity every day. On this point, the enthusiast of the platform highlighted the following:
“The Ethereum ecosystem basically built a whole new financial system during the depths of the bear market in 2018/2019. Now we are seeing incredible results in 2020 (…) Ethereum went from being a platform for ‘ICOs only’ to something that establishes more value annually than Bitcoin.
Another element that would be favoring is the issue of stablecoins and the arrival of DAI on the network, something that did not exist three years ago. Sassano considers that Ethereum could hold $ 1 trillion in so-called stablecoins. In addition, he recalled that before there was only Tether (USDT), but that now there is a range of possibilities in relation to stablecoins.
In relation to human talent, Sassano passed the highlighter on the number of active developers. According to the metric, there are currently more than 2,300 programmers working to improve and diversify the network of programmable transactions.
Although he does not mention it in his article, it must be remembered that Ethereum is in a transition process to change its consensus method. The network has always operated on the Proof of Work (PoW) mechanism, but now it is getting ready to pass the Proof of Stake (PoS), as CriptoNoticias has reported.
It is a transition that will last at least two years in which the network and the community that makes life around it will be tested. If successful, the figures presented by Sassano could be significantly increased.
“One thing is for sure, Ethereum will continue to grow and there is nothing or no one who can do anything to stop it,” said the entrepreneur to finish.