Truly great investments come along occasionally – the kind that let you double your investment. Cryptocurrency offers two such tokens – Bitcoin and Ethereum. These vary in nature from a stable coin, such as USDC.
Reading the mainstream media might make you think otherwise, but cryptocurrency and blockchain publications better understand how the crypto market works, especially investment coins and tokens. The recent fluctuations in the value of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) haven’t stopped them from remaining the two most valuable tokens available.
BTC hit its greatest value in 2021 when its market value skyrocketed above $1.2 trillion. Since that time, it fell about 30 percent, currently maintaining a market value of about $774 billion. This means BTC comprises 42 percent of all cryptocurrency value.
Think of it in these terms – when introduced in 2009, it had a value of $0.00, which rose to about $0.09 the following year. It currently holds a value of about $43,666.
Similarly, ETH began at a value of $2.14 in 2015 and rose to a value of $1,400 by January 2018. It currently holds a value of $3,208.02. That does mean it fell from its 2021 all-time value of $4,867, but that’s up from an initial value of $2.14.
When you look for an investment, it makes sense to examine the overall history of a token, bond, stock, etc. Regardless of the type of investment, you study the entire history. Any investment that went from a value of $0 to one of $43,666 deserves a purchase. The same is true of ETH. It may hold a value of one-tenth approximately of BTC, but that shows a more than 1500 percent growth.
Even during tough economic times, both cryptocurrencies remained strong. That plus the growing utilization of both blockchains point to the potential for the long-term success of both tokens.
On the BTC side, Wall Street took an interest. Its involvement caused the token to link to the stock market. Brokers began recommending BTC as an alternative to gold.
On the ETH side, while some investors showed concern over recent competition from the Solana blockchain in the non-fungible token (NFT) area, ETH owns 80 percent of that market share. It also gains help from Polygon, which offers a parallel chain that lets users purchase ETH on its blockchain, then use it for purchases without incurring transaction fees. Its use in the NFT market includes linkage with OpenSea, which lets users purchase with their MetaMask or other wallets linked through the Polygon chain. That results in a fee-free transaction to purchase their NFT.
The Polygon partnership has made ETH more affordable than Solana, which offers lower transaction fees than if a user-traded on the Ethereum chain itself. Using Polygon to spend ETH though creates an even cheaper way to utilize ETH.
ETH also potentially increases its value when its upcoming platform upgrades go live. Timed with or near the advent of those upgrades comes the introduction of ETH2, which investors can already earn by purchasing and staking ETH. When the second currency goes live, the staked ETH pays out its earnings during the staked period as ETH2. The combination of those factors means that ETH could hit $4,000 to $8,000 in the near future.
